During tonight's practice at Future Stars, we talked a little about the Hall of Fame hitter, Ted Williams. In my view, there are at least three important lessons our players can learn from him.
#1
As a hitter, Ted Williams always kept his eyes on the ball. Many thought that he could pick up the rotation of the baseball by viewing the seams just upon the release from the pitcher's hand. Later in life, he denied having any kind of superhuman vision and admitted that he really couldn't read the label on a phonograph record while it was spinning on the turntable. But, he made every effort to see the baseball as soon as possible and to follow the ball all the way in.
#2
Early on, Ted Williams learned not to swing at balls that were out of the strike zone. Try as they might, pitchers could not get him to chase bad pitches. "Getting on base is how you score runs," Williams explained. "Runs win ball games. I walked a lot in high school, and in the minors I walked 100 times...You start swinging at pitches a half-inch outside, the next one's an inch out and pretty soon you're getting nothing but bad balls to swing at."
At the Pony level, it's critical to let bad pitches go by. This places the pitcher under more pressure--forcing him to give the hitter a good pitch to hit. Many pitchers at this level simply start aiming the ball and then walk several more hitters.
#3
In my opinion, the following story displays what strong respect Ted Williams had for the game of baseball:
In 1941, only his third season in the majors, Williams captivated the nation by chasing a .400 season batting average. On the last day of the season, Williams was hitting exactly .400, and Red Sox manager Joe Cronin offered him the chance to sit out a doubleheader. "I told Cronin I didn't want that," Williams recalled. "If I couldn't hit .400 all the way I didn't deserve it." He got six hits and finished at .406, a mark many experts believe will never be equaled.
