Seeing The Truth Behind It (Part 1)

On March 27^th Boston Globe writer, Alex Speier wrote an article entitled; "A New Launching Point”.  In that article, Alex Speier spoke with newly acquired Red Sox slugger JD Martinez.      


Hitting Philosophy, Said Martinez, is changing “because you have guys like me, like Turner, like Donaldson, Daniel Murphy, guys like that who have really revamped it and changed everything.  It’s started kind of a new wave.  When I first came up, when I first started doing this stuff, people were kind of looking at me like I was crazy. Now everyone has seen the truth behind it”.

Well JD sit down kid, take your hat off, the gum out of your mouth, sure you can sit with your friends but there is no talking allowed.  Hitting History class is in session and the topic today motivated by Mr. Martinez is;  “Seeing The Truth behind it”    

I don’t watch much baseball on television.  Somewhere around 1986 I found myself saying; “I am not going to watch professional hitters with illogical approaches”.   I have little time for foolishness on any subject never mind the heart of my chosen profession.  Fast forward to opening day 2018 and I did thoroughly enjoy watching little second baseman Joe Panik pulling Clayton Kershaw down the line for the big trip and then again against Kenley Jansen the very next day. 

Fast forward a week or so and here in Boston, Xander Bogaerts is smoking, Hanley Rimirez is getting more dangerous daily, JD Martinez begins to prove his point, Benintendi is finding it again and then there is Mookie Betts.  It was cold last night at Fenway Park,  but it went unnoticed while Betts and company use the New York Yankees for a camp fire in a 14-1 blaze.  

To most fans, these performances will fall under that unpredictable, hot bat factor that can make baseball so enjoyable to watch.   To me, looking at the swings in detail, I see yet more pieces of evidence warming a “cold case, hitting mystery” destined to be solved.        

I just had to laugh, I was listening to Dennis Eckersly last season and he was genuinely beside himself talking about this sudden surge in hitting power.  He really did not understand its source.  He was experiencing the mystery.  The Eck is a great commentator and a hall of fame pitcher, but this is very complicated and very difficult to see.  My point here is, if the Eck is having trouble seeing it.  You are most likely in the Twilight Zone.   

The mystery I’m talking about is the “how’s and when’s of decent hitting technique” which not only hide behind a wall of speed but are very difficult for most to talk about and comprehend.  The average fan... is blind to this conversation - completely in the dark. 

Do you remember Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams? Number 9 -- The Splendid Splinter?   If you don’t your about to get a crash course because all of MLB baseball , North to South,  East to West is trying to execute his hitting theory.  Be it; Altuve, Marinez, Judge, Turner, Posey, Blackmon, Reddick, Garcia or Betts they have Ted Williams written all over them.  They might not be saying it, they might not understand it, they might not even realize it, but they certainly are trying to do it.  

It is no secret that Ted Williams was a great hitter.  Per at bat, I believe he was the best MLB hitter to date. Despite the loss of 5 years to military service in his prime and  another lost to injury, Ted Williams ended his career with a .344 lifetime batting average and 521 home runs.  He is also the last man to hit .400 in a single season, .406 in 1941.     

For our purposes here however, I would like to focus on another one of his accomplishments.  Ted Williams is the number one forefather of technical hitting.    That is to say, Ted Williams was the first man to really dig in and document an approach to hitting that was thorough and comprehensive.  He did this both on a 16 mm movie and in a book entitled; “The Science of Hitting’.   It was then and remains today a brilliant and unselfish piece of work by a true craftsman.

Every current MLB player I will mention in this article is trying to; swing slightly up, get their hips ahead of their hands and contact the ball with unbroken wrists.  These are all basic principles of the Ted Williams hitting theory.   

I remember politely challenging Oakland A’s batting instructor Jim Lefevbre at an American Baseball Coaches Association meeting in Atlanta, GA in the late 80’s. Encircled by a small crowd of college coaches, I questioned the pitching machine that Jim was endorsing.  My argument was that this specific machine did not allow for the proper development of another  key principle of hitting suggested in the Ted Williams theory. 

Jim never did answer my question and walked away from of our conversation shouting: “I’m not talking to you! However, just before he left he said something very important.  He said: “I was coming up when that theory was popular and it failed”.  Jim Lefevbre was absolutely correct. 

Ironically, as good as Ted was, his theory which was documented in the 70’s really did not catch on.  The main reason for this was a decrease in time spent on minor league player development. 

The invention of television had dramatically cut the minor league system by 70 percent.  People were now staying home and watching big league players on the tube.  I have a buddy who had a minor league contract and before he would play they canceled the entire league! This cut back took away thousands of minor league "at bats and practices".

The minor leagues became more sink or swim -- up or out.  Not the best environment for a young player to digest the hardest single skill in all of sports, especially an approach created by a man who preached practice and hit until his blisters bled.

It could be said, that professional baseball player development had redirected in such a way that did not have the time to teach Ted Williams' theory.    

To make matters worse, another hitting theory would soon arrived and lock on to big league baseball.  The Charlie Lau theory of early 80’s seemed to fit the mentality and schedule of professional baseballs new player development time frame.  In my opinion it would set hitting back 25 years.   

I cannot imagine the effect this must have had on Ted Williams, while literally signing autographs for those leaning from the stands, the technique that had made his signature so popular was being rejected on the field behind him.    

The mystery and the truth behind it all (that so many players today are starting to uncover) is the fact that the best hitting theory ever documented, created by the greatest hitter in history, was put on hold for decades due to the invention of television and the cut back of the minor league system.