Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt hit 548 home runs and was a 12-time All-Star. A three-time NL MVP, the third baseman was MVP of the 1980 World Series when the Phillies won their only championship.
By MIKE SCHMIDT
For The Associated Press
Every World Series has a hitter or two that gets strapped with a funk.
It happened to me in 1983 against the Orioles, getting only one hit in over 20 at bats, and it was a broken-bat blooper over short. I was the same guy who got eight hits and an MVP in the 1980 Series.
Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, they’re doing fine for the Phillies after slow starts. Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena, no luck for Tampa Bay through the first four games.
So what happens when hitters go cold and experience record-setting futility in pressure situations?
Sure, good pitching stops good hitting. Cole Hamels stopped the Rays in Game 1, and a couple relievers have dominating stuff. But from my couch, just plain and simple bad hitting.
posed to similar thinking, but no two hitters have like metabolism, hand-eye reaction and application, and sense of pitcher vs. hitter combat.
Because they’re all different, there has been no pat answer as to why someone funks in the World Series. A good regular-season stroke can leave and not even say goodbye.
The simplest explanation: There are two kinds of hitters, spray and pull. I’ve been both.
Up until 1979 I was predominantly a pull-side hitter, as was most of that generation. We were taught to hit the ball out in front of the plate.
From 1979 on, I was a spray hitter, which meant I waited longer, let the ball come to me and used the entire field. I hit about one-third of my home runs straight away or to the opposite field.
Spray power is harder to defend. This hitter is much less vulnerable to the pitcher’s trickery, therefore more productive and consistent. For me the proof was in the stats.
In its simplest form, a spray hitter will have a better chance of producing no matter what the level of pressure. The pull hitter’s stroke comes and goes, and good pitching eats him up. His pull stroke can leave after a key strikeout and return after a roll-over infield chopper for a hit.
The problem is it never stays around long because percentages won’t allow it. And in the World Series, where pressure is real, the pull hitter’s stroke is a crapshoot.
reed in today’s game. Today’s generation of hitters were taught to stay inside the ball and use the entire field from the beginning. This is a more productive and consistent style, especially with today’s small parks and lively balls.
That being said, in the World Series we see many spray hitters that succumb to the pull-hitting style and are slumping. Trust me, this isn’t the plan. He’s “trying to do too much” or he’s “expanding the zone” or he’s “overanxious” are what the so-called experts say.
So what happens inside the mind of a hitter that prevents him from executing good, fundamental at-bats in pressure situations? I think it is the inability to commit to a plan of attack that includes patience, deep counts and straightaway hitting in all situations. You must fight the home run temptation.
Imagine you’re at the plate in the World Series, and the pitcher is getting his sign. In your mind you are concentrating and visualizing something. Throughout the regular season, for the most part, you were relaxed, willing to accept the moment as just another at-bat. You were in your routine and it felt good.
As the pitcher winds up, you’re still conscious and in control, but as he delivers the ball you enter the react mode. Optimally, your final conscious visual was a crisp line drive up the middle, or sharp ground ball to second, or taking a strike, whatever the situation required.
re in a funk, you can’t control your pre-swing mental visual. Physically, you’re overanxious, jumpy and tense. And at the moment of truth, at contact, you overdo it.
You swing to lift and pull the ball, and that leads to outs and slumps. You feel it, but don’t sense the time available to correct it.
Why? It’s the World Series. Every movement, facial expression and reaction is broadcast worldwide. Your results could be headlines for years and can affect your career and life.
This is no time for holding back or experimenting. That’s why under postseason pressure, as the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, a productive spray hitter with few holes in his swing becomes an inconsistent pull hitter. His visual of a crisp line drive becomes a long home run, and any hitter visualizing a home run as the pitch enters the hitting zone is an easy out.
That’s the psychology of it. If you watch on TV, these slumping hitters miss good pitches to hit in every at-bat. With men in scoring position, they take good pitches to hit and swing at bad pitches.
I did it, and as long as there is baseball, all hitters will do it. Watch the hitters – the ones slumping will be off-balance in swings, fouling or missing their pitches and hooking soft ground balls to their pull side.
That’s baseball. Remember one thing though: Today is always a new day in a hitter’s mind, and today any hitter can execute the perfect swing at the perfect time and erase everything.
Who remembers a 1-for-20 if you are a world champion?
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