Many of you may remember, or have seen the highlight of, “the catch” made by Swoboda against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1969 World Series. What you may not know is Ron was a converted infielder who struggled with the outfield in his early days as a pro. However, with hard work and dedication, he transformed himself into an everyday MLB outfielder and the man who made one of the most legendary snares in New York baseball history.

Special thanks to MintPros for arranging this conversation.

By the way, you can purchase a framed and autographed photo of “The Catch” through the Daily News (a great holiday gift idea!). It is a limited edition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the event and the Mets’ first World Series win. A portion of the proceeds go to the Mets Foundation, which funds and promotes educational, social, and athletic programs, as well as other charitable causes.

The conversation with Ron Swoboda can be heard below, and you can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast feed through iTunes.

Nobody of course, unless you’re attempting a sacrifice bunt!

But there are common problems among hitters — even the pros — that can sap you of your power. Both players and coaches should be aware of these minor, correctable flaws.

Take a look at the video below of Mets minor league prospect Reese Havens, while taking batting practice in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2007 (courtesy of SaberScouting, who does an excellent job of breaking down his entire swing):

Now take a look at more recent footage of Havens in the Arizona Fall League in November 2009 (courtesy of Toby Hyde of MetsMinorLeagueBlog):

It looks like a pretty nice swing, doesn’t it? Smooth and quick, straight to the ball. I’m a Mets fan and Havens is someone I’m very high on for his old-school approach, leadership skills, and all-around ability as a ballplayer. He’s moving quickly up the ladder but isn’t hitting with as much power as some hoped. So I took a closer look at his swing and called in the eagle eye of Dan Gilligan, a former All-American, pro scout, college coach, and currently a highly respected hitting instructor for the Pro Player Academy in Hawthorne, NJ.

Joe: after watching your videos about striding against the front leg, and keeping the weight back with the hands, it looks to me like this kid would generate more power if he didn’t “leak forward” with the front side and his hands when his front foot lands. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

Dan: It looks to me like he starts opening that front side a shade too early, and the hands start going forward as his foot lands, rather than staying back in the launch. Because of that, he’s losing some of the power from his hips.

Joe: Frankie Piliere, when commenting on Havens’ Cape Cod video, specifically pointed out : “There is also a huge separation between where his hips come forward against the front leg and his hands, which remain completely back.”

Dan: Piliere does a great job of breaking down the BP swing, but I disagree on the separation. I agree it’s there, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing, because his weight is shifting along with the front leg and his head is moving forward. Though, it’s much more pronounced in the recent video from Arizona.

In the Cape Cod BP session, Havens was for the most part staying back until contact. As Piliere points out, his head doesn’t move much until contact or slightly after — but then it pushes forward and up, and his weight goes over his front side after contact. I generally dont like this in the swing, in fact I dont like any forward movement after the front foot drops, because the hips can’t rotate efficiently while the body is transferring weight. In game conditions — such as we see in the recent AFL video — this action can cause the hitter to rush forward or “race to the ball” which can cut off the power of the hip rotation.

Joe: This is what we call “blowing through the stop sign”, right?

Dan: Yes. Normally you see good hitters drift BACK after contact, because they are rebounding off a firm front leg. However in Havens’ case, he’s drifting over and past the front leg — so he’s “pushing” the ball rather than driving through it. And yes, we call this “running through the stop sign”.

Joe: Actually, after re-reading Piliere’s evaluation, he pretty much says the same thing:

“Havens has a great deal of head movement, more specifically toward the pitcher, than I would prefer. And, if you look closely toward the end of his swing, it comes up. That is a direct result of a lot of the upper body that he uses in hitting the ball. There’s lots of shoulder and upper body torque going on there. It may cost him a little power with his upper body drifting at the ball but he’s very good at getting to the ball and making contact simply using his hands.”

Dan: Exactly. In fact, you often see a good hitter’s head move back a little bit, rather than forward, as they brace themselves and rotate the hips.

Joe: Understood. Now what about those hands leaking forward?

Dan: In the Cape Cod video, Havens’ hands do leak just a bit as his top hand starts to “unwind” before launch. In other words his top hand should be a little more turned in towards his head at the launch position — or “cocked”. He is losing whip by unwinding his top hand early. Under the stress of game conditions a hitter may amplify his faults, so maybe this is where his hands break before his front foot drops as we see in the AFL video.

Joe: So are you seeing more of this amplification / loss of whip / hands moving forward too early in the second video from Arizona?

Dan: Absolutely. I call this a “false start”. Meaning, his hands get a head start and are moving forward before the front heel hits the ground. Again, there is no cocking of the wrists to start the swing, so the hands are already “en route” by the time that foot lands. How the heck does he adjust to off-speed pitches like that?

Joe: Beats me. That might be part of his problems so far in pro ball — I haven’t seen enough of him to say for sure.

Dan: There’s something else — he seems to be “jerking” everything. He pulls off the ball so much that in one of his swings (the fly ball to right in the AFL video) his back shoulder finishes a foot higher than his front shoulder — an indication that he’s upper-body dominant, and “muscling the ball” or “muscling up”. This problem is a direct result of the false start we discussed earlier.

An optimum swing displays a loose and relaxed upper half, which promotes whip and bat speed.

Joe: Do you think these problems are correctable?

Dan: Yes, definitely. For starters, he needs to relax and smooth out the upper body rather than “muscle up”. To correct the false start and leaking forward issue, he needs to keep his front side on the pitch longer. Instead of everything going to the ball at once, he needs to keep the hands back when the front foot comes down.

Joe: Let’s hope he gets this issue fixed — I want to see Reese mashing in Flushing some day soon!

You can learn more about hitting from Dan at DanGilliganHitting.com

Tyrone formerly held several front office positions in the Atlanta Braves organization — including Director of Baseball Operations and Director of Baseball Administration — before joining the Cleveland Indians in the role of professional scout.

In our conversation, Tyrone explains how a scout evaluates a ballplayer, what he looks for beyond a player’s baseball skills, how an amateur player can approach a scout, the different types of scouts you may encounter (they’re not all the same!), and many other aspects of the player-scout relationship. In addition, Tyrone also tells the secret of why Ryan Howard fell below the radar as a college junior and slipped to the fifth round of the June 2001 draft.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

Fritz was known for his outstanding control and quick pace, teaming with Mel Stottlemyre in the mid-1960s to early-1970s to anchor the top of the New York Yankees’ rotation. Fritz was the last Major League pitcher to throw 270+ innings and post a WHIP of under 1.00 (272 IP, 0.996 WHIP in 1969). He also remains the all-time (since 1900) best lefthanded control pitcher — he allowed a scant 1.7 walks per nine innings through over 2200 career innings pitched. He reveals some of the secrets to that great control in this podcast.

Fritz recently published a book called Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven, which is available through MintPros, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

In the autum of 2009, however, that has changed, as A-Rod hit .365 with 6 homeruns in 50 postseason at-bats, a .500 OBP, and a 1.308 OPS in leading the New York Yankees to a World Series Championship.

So what’s changed?

He’s the same player … from the neck down. But above the neck is where Alex Rodriguez has improved — he’s now relaxed and focused, using many of the techniques learned while working with mental coach Jim Fannin.

In the last post you had the chance to hear me speak with Jim Fannin about some of those techniques, and the challenges of mental preparation for baseball.

Here are some of the tips or “takeaways” from the interview:

- No matter what the situation, the essence of your craft does not change. In other words, you use the same physical technique and concentration in “regular” and “pressure” situations

- Big games: sometimes you need to “spill” some energy — maybe jump up and down a few times to expel your energy if you feel a little too jacked up

- Batters: lock in to the release, forget about the pitcher

- Batters: Pick up the baseball within 6 feet after release, and then be sure to track it within the last two feet

- Batters: start learning to pick up the ball and the pitcher’s release in the on-deck circle

- Batters: EXPECT to hit the ball solidly – confidence is key

- Pitchers: prepare to retire the leadoff batter by getting the heart rate up and throwing the last few warmup pitches as if they were “game” pitches

- Pitchers: mentality should be to retire the leadoff guy every inning

- Pitchers: if tense, stressed, or nervous, slow down your heart rate by walking off the mound, taking a breath, unhinging your jaw, and focus on throwing through the target (see the target not the batter)

- The ultimate for all players is to have the same mindset in all situations

- Every great player uses the tools of visualization

- Visualization is applicable to every level down to little league

- Every human being spends 56 hours — 50% of their waking hours — daydreaming. Daydreaming is a form of visualization, but it is generally random and chaotic.

- Controlled visualization is proactive and specific – you are daydreaming about what you want.

- Most people visualize about what they don’t want — so you want to visualize what you want

- Coaches: the great coaches and teachers — no matter what the sport — are painting a picture of total positivity in the student’s mind.

- Coaches: using “don’t” in your instruction is completely ineffective – so eliminate it from your speech! Replace the “don’t” with a positive image

- All players who struggle with their mental mindset can improve — but they have to want to do it

If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it here:
Jim Fannin On Baseball podcast

You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

I had the opportunity to discuss that topic and many others related to mental preparation for baseball with one of the leading experts on the subject, Jim Fannin.

Jim’s worked with 24 All-Stars over the years, including Alex Rodriguez, Casey Blake, Barry Zito, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Orel Hershiser, Frank Thomas, Alex Cora, and many others.

You can learn more about Jim Fannin and the services he provides by visiting his website, JimFannin.com.

Listen to the conversation below. You can also subscribe to the OnBaseball.com podcast through iTunes.

Watch an example of Joe Mauer stealing the opposing catcher’s signs and relaying them to his teammate:

I do not advocate stealing signs below the high school level. In lower leagues, it is more important for players to be focusing on executing the fundamentals. Stealing signs — from the catcher or a coach — is an advanced technique that requires concentration and thinking. In addition, players and coaches should always be aware that someone may be watching, and therefore develop means to prevent their signs from being stolen.

We’ll get into the techniques on both sides in the future, but in the meantime if you have any suggestions for stealing signs or preventing the theft of signs, please post your comments.

Everyone knows that hitters can go into slumps, but did you know pitchers can as well? And unfortunately, some never find their way out of them.

This particular interview is from over a year ago, but it is a timeless / relevant piece. It is a short Q & A with Washington Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire, who spoke candidly to the Washingtong Post about Nats pitcher Jason Bergmann.

St. Claire offered his analysis on why Bergmann was pitching poorly in 2008, and how he had entered a vicious cycle that would inevitably lead to more bad outings — unless he changed his mindset.

A year later, Bergmann was moved out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen — where he’s continued to struggle. One must wonder if his inability to fulfill his once-promising potential has something to do with the way he deals with pitching slumps.

With the 3-2 pitch on the way, the runner on third broke for home, slid over the batter’s feet, and beat the ball to the plate by a split second. Luckily, it was ball four, so the run counted and the batter was granted first base.

Although successful, it was in every way, shape and form a boneheaded play.

First of all, you never, ever, EVER steal home when there are two strikes on the batter and there are two outs. If that pitch was in the strike zone, the batter would have either swung and decapitated the runner blazing home, or it would have been strike three, the inning ended, and the run would not count. I also don’t advocate stealing home when you’re up by more than a 4-5 runs, because it can be construed as running up the score by your competition — or a lack of faith in the current hitter’s ability to get you home.

So when IS it appropriate to steal home?

Pretty much, any other time than the one described. Generally, you want to steal home whenever the pitcher will allow you and your team is desperate for a run. If it’s a close game, then you must be absolutely, positively sure you can make it, as there are many other, higher-percentage, ways you can score with less than two outs.

Although you could steal when there are two strikes on the batter and less than two outs, it’s a better idea to do it with one strike or less, because you don’t want to take the bat out of the hitter’s hands — and you don’t want a mouth full of wood (or aluminum) if the batter doesn’t realize you’re coming and hacks away.

Which brings up another important point: make sure the batter knows you’re coming! Ideally your team has some kind of signal worked out, be it a sign from the third base coach or something worked out among the players (an audible warning is common, such as calling out the batter’s initials). If you have no predetermined signal, you might want to consider yelling loudly as you approach the plate to ensure the batter does not swing. This may offset the surprise factor, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. On the other hand, it may just cause the catcher to panic and miss the pitch entirely.

In a future post, we’ll describe HOW to steal home.

However, most of these sources either don’t elaborate on how your feet should be, or they offer information that does more harm than good.

For example, I remember being taught to get my weight forward, on the balls of my feet, because that is a “strong athletic position”. Unfortunately, with your weight forward you can naturally move only one way: forward. If you need to block a ball to either side, or need to throw a runner out, you will have to waste time shifting your weight back before doing anything else.

That’s not to say, however, that your weight should be back on your heels (though, you’re probably better off back there than forward). Instead, your weight in the catcher’s stance — both with and without runners on — should be evenly distributed on your feet. A better way to say this may be that your weight should be ON TOP of your feet.

Ideally, your toes should be pointing up the the foul lines, positioned outside your knees, with the outside edges of your feet slightly off the ground, and the majority of your weight resting on top of your instep. While at first it may feel strange to have your weight on your insteps, you should otherwise feel balanced. Set this way, you will be an ideal position to move in any direction necessary, with quickness and control.