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.

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

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

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.

In the next post I’ll publish a list of “take aways” from the interview. In the meantime, download the podcast (it’s about a half-hour long) and listen to it at your leisure. You can learn more about Jim Fannin and the services he provides by visiting his website, JimFannin.com.

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.

This “reminder” has been used by some of the greatest hitters in MLB history. For example, Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Rod Carew, and George Brett have all, at some point, admitted that “wait and weight” was something they kept in their mind while in the batter’s box. A fairly impressive group, wouldn’t you agree?

So what is “wait and weight”?

“Wait” is waiting for the pitch to get to you — another way of saying “let the ball get deep”.

“Weight” is keeping your weight back while you’re “waiting” for the pitch. Some coaches say “keep your weight on top of your back foot”.

In other words, one of the fundamental keys to successful hitting is to stay back — refrain from committing to swinging — as long as possible. The longer you can wait for the ball, while also keeping your weight and your hands back, the better your strike zone judgment will be and the better chance you’ll have of hitting the baseball.

Of course, if you see a pitch you like, don’t wait so long that the ball ends up in the catcher’s mitt! There’s a fine line, and it takes hours and hours of practice for you to learn how long you can wait. Next time you are in BP, try it: wait just a millisecond longer than normal before starting your swing. Keep trying to wait longer and longer on each pitch — particularly pitches that are “middle – out” — before committing (pitches on the inside part of the plate require you to swing earlier, or you won’t get the barrel on the ball). Get to the point where you’re almost missing the ball on purpose because you’re waiting so long. Eventually — and this won’t happen in one session — you’ll start to learn how long you can wait before starting your swing.

Trust your hands — they’re faster than you think, particularly when you keep them back and in unison with your weight.

First of all, this is not a new nor cutting-edge development. Pitchers under my supervision have used “eyes closed” drills going back to the early 1990s, and even then it wasn’t a new concept — certainly nothing I invented but rather a training method that had been handed down from previous generations of pitching “gurus”.

In any case, I’m glad the story came up, because now is a good time to apply the technique. Essentially, it is what it sounds like: you go through your entire motion and pitch with your eyes closed (this should be done in bullpens / side sessions; it should be obvious that you don’t try this in a game situation). If you have solid mechanics, and total control over your body, you should be able to throw strikes. When I coached at the D1 level, and we were working out indoors (preseason) my pitchers were not allowed to advance to breaking pitches until they could throw their fastball and changeup for strikes with their eyes closed. This may sound drastic and a little nuts, but that was my way of confirming that each pitcher’s mechanics were understood, “felt”, and repeatable.

Pitching (or doing anything athletic) with your eyes closed is tied strongly to visualization, but it is also an immediate way to “feel” what the body is doing. With the eyes open, your attention is split by all kinds of distractions — most of them visual. When you are “blind”, and expected to throw to the catcher’s glove, you absolutely, positively, must focus on controlling your body and its movements. Concentrating so narrowly on balance and movement, the mind is less susceptible to outside distractions that could cause the body to fall off course. In addition, if a particular part of your mechanics or timing doesn’t feel “right”, it is a more glaring and identifiable issue with the eyes closed. You will be amazed at how quickly you can correct mechanical issues simply by throwing a few pitches with your eyes closed.

Finally, there is the benefit of self-assurance. Prove to yourself that you can throw a strike with your eyes closed — literally — and you are suddenly armed (pardon the pun) with a supreme confidence to throw strikes at will.

By the way, this method can be applied to batting, though it’s limited to hitting off a tee.