Talk:Matt LaPorta

Redirect
"Matthew Laporta" should redirect to "Matthew LaPorta," not the other way around. Abernethyj (talk) 07:55, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Ok I fixed it. Hatmatbbat10 (talk) 15:58, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. Abernethyj (talk) 04:12, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Matt or Matthew
Ive been hearing him called "Matt LaPorta" rather than "Matthew LaPorta" since he was traded to the Indians (organization). Which does he go by? NewYork483 (talk) 01:49, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I think he mostly goes by Matt, but his real name is Matthew. If you look at the discussion above, it was changed where Matt redirected to Matthew. Hatmatbbat10 Talk to me 01:54, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually the discussion above concerns his last name (Laporta vs LaPorta) and the common name is used rather than the full name. (it isnt Carston Charles Sabathia, James Thome, or Kenneth Lofton) NewYork483 (talk) 03:19, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry, i misread the conversation above, I was thinking it was about Matthew or Matt. I get what your saying about the other baseball players, but right now, LaPorta is known by both Matt and Matthew. In the sports world, probably known a little more as Matt. I personally think the article should stay Matthew for right now. If in the future he is mostly known by Matt, then maybe it should be changed. Hatmatbbat10 Talk to me 21:13, 19 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Makes sense, He'll probably be talked about later in the summer or next year if/when he makes the major leagues. It may be better to wait until then NewYork483 (talk) 21:23, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

Assessment
I added the University of Florida WikiProject and put this article at the Start class. I knew it wasn't stub anymore, but didn't know if it was deserving of C class. Since the C class is new, I don't know much about it yet. If you have any input about what assessment class it should be in, feel free to comment. Hatmatbbat10 Talk to me 20:21, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

I recall a few Matt Laporta incidents that may have adversely affected his career. Mr. Laporta was at first base for the Cleveland "Indians" (now called the Guardians) when he was hit in the head by a thrown ball when he was not looking. In another instance,I don't recall which year it was, but in the final game of the season in which Mr. Laporta had started to play really well offensively, he ran into the left field wall and broke his toe or his foot.

I think there was also a hip area injury and I recall when he came back from the hip injury it seems as if there was a disconnect between his lower body and his center of gravity when would swing the bat. It was as if his power was being generated by either his lower legs, or his midsection, but not both. Most power hitters are successful because they are able to transfer the power from their legs to the center of gravity, and La Porta's swing just did not seem right. When Mr. La Porta played first base, he made a couple of costly 9th inning defensive errors within a short amount of time. On one play, Mr. Laporta assumed a grounder that got by him was going through to right field, so he ran to his right field cut-off relay spot. The problem was the second baseman was able to snare the grounder, but had no one to throw to at first base because Mr. LaPorta was in short right field waiting to possibly cut-off and even redirect a throw from the outfield that never happened. The cruel irony was either the tying or winning run scored from second base on what would have been an inning ending grounder if Mr. Laporta had covered first base. Then, within a relatively short time, there was an infield play with a runner on second base, again I think it was the ninth inning, and the throw to Mr. LaPort at first base was late. Mr LaPorta made the mistake of turning towards the umpire, his back to home plate, to briefly argue that the runner was out, and that was all it took for the runner at second to make to home plate. Mr. LaPorta threw home but it was too late, and once again, a runner from second scored on an infield play, and both times it was Mr. LaPorta making the wrong decision that allowed the runner to come home, and both times it was in the ninth inning and allowed the tying or winning run to score. Mr. LaPorta had a couple of comeback attempts. As time had passed it appeared Mr. LaPorta's hip issue had improved and I, as a Cleveland baseball fan, was looking forward to Mr. LaPorta being a late bloomer. And that was the spring where someone talked Mr. LaPorta into giving up his baseball career to be involved in a Pizza Franchise offer that Mr. LaPorta felt might be something he would regret later on for not trying. I can only speculate that even though Mr. LaPorta appeared to have a chance to resurrect his MLB career, maybe he never fully recovered from his hip issue and jumped at the chance to be in on the ground floor of the Pizza Franchise business. Here is a link to the Pizza Franchise announcement. https://www.pizzamarketplace.com/news/pie-five-pizza-signs-18-unit-deal-for-florida-market/ -Alessandro Machi

Copyright concerns
This article was tagged for potential copyright violation on November 9 2008. Always good to check, but in this case Wikipedia seems to be in the clear. The identified source, here, posts a date of July 9, 2008. This material predates that. It was first introduced in slightly different form in July of 2007. At that time, our article read, "LaPorta attended Charlotte High School in his hometown. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 2003 amatuer baseball draft but chose to play baseball at the University of Florida instead." On April 13, 2008, those sentences were revised to read, "LaPorta attended Charlotte High School in his hometown after transfering [sic] from Port Charlotte High. He played quarterback on his freshman football team for the pirates. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 2003 amateur baseball draft but chose to play baseball at the University of Florida instead." On July 7, 2008, it was altered to read, "LaPorta attended Charlotte High School in his hometown after transferring from Port Charlotte High. He played quarterback on his freshman football team for the Pirates. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 14th round of the 2003 amateur baseball draft but chose to play baseball at the University of Florida instead." Given evidence of natural evolution in the article and the later date of publication of the external source, it seems far more likely that the infringement is the other way around. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 17:04, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
 * That's a perfect example of why some of these people really need to read what the GFDL actually says instead of just assuming they can copy sites like Wikipedia freely without citing their source. Someone probably ought to email them. GO-PCHS-NJROTC  (Messages) 23:35, 23 November 2008 (UTC)