Sweet Lou To The Rescue?
Posted by Steve L. on June 29th, 2006 · Comments (3)
From The Record:
“I felt great at the plate all day,” said [Alex] Rodriguez, who said he had some extra tutoring after going 0-for-4 in the Yankees’ 5-2 loss Tuesday.
Rodriguez told Suzyn Waldman of WCBS-AM that he had a private batting-practice session with Lou Piniella, which lasted until 3 a.m. Wednesday. Piniella was “like an angel coming out of the sky,” Rodriguez said.
I guess those sessions with Donnie, ten days ago, were a waste of time.
I think it’s entirely in A-Rod’s head. When a former Yankee great spends some time with him and they “fix” his swing, he comes out and has a great day the next day. The fixing isn’t correcting how he swings a bat, but how confident and comfortable he feels doing it.
The Yankees need to have a rotating ex-Yankee Hall of Famer staff to manage A-Rod’s swing.
Bill Madden has more details on the Lou/Alex meeting. Sounds more like a mentor giving advice. He specifically says he didn’t want to interfere with Donnie.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/430921p-363255c.html
No knock against Donnie but whatever you want to say about Piniella, he’s a great batting coach. If Piniella is paired with a good pitching coach, he’s one of the best managers in the game. As much as he knows hitting, that’s how little he knows about pitching.