Swing and a Hit

Hitting is about feeling comfortable and confident and making sure every aspect of your swing is in syncdifferent for each hitter.

“I didn’t just hate to strike out,” Ted told me. “I hated the thought of striking out.”

“He was so pissed at me about platooning, and at times not playing him,” said Showalter. “I told him, ‘You’re going to get your chance. There will be situations where I use you against a lefty.’ And I also told him, ‘When I do give you a chance, just imagine my face is on the baseball and try to hit me right between the bleeping eyes.’”

Jeter would shrug and say that he was able to lock in to the at bat in the time that it took him to walk from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box

To fight my doubts and to stay mentally strong, I talked to myself before every pitch. I would whisper, “Stay on top and hit it hard. Stay on top and hit it hard.” I would repeat that over and over. I would almost chant it so it became embedded in my mind

I despised the result, but I enjoyed the skirmish.

I probably had only about 20 at bats in my entire career, roughly one a year, in which I didn’t get a pitch to hit. Even the greatest pitchers will give hitters something to hit, because they can’t throw three perfect pitches in every at bat

As Ted continued to preach, he stressed the importance of having the best scouting report of all on myself. Basically, Ted said, I needed to know what I did well and work tirelessly to be superb at those things.

Treating the clubhouse like a classroom, Joe told us he hit .363 and won a batting title in 1971 and he hit .247 and lost a lot of sleep in 1975. And he tried just as hard in those two seasons. It was a strong message about what we can and can’t control. As someone who was perpetually demanding of himself and who couldn’t fully understand the reasons for my struggles, Joe’s words resonated with me. This is a hard game. And sometimes, you’re not going to outwork, outmuscle, or outlast some negative results. Sometimes, an opponent will defeat you, no matter how much you prepared.

Every hitter needs to have a strategy for what he’s trying to do against the pitcher. When Robinson Canó was with the Yankees, I told him the worst thing a hitter could do was change his plan with every pitch.