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Topic: Monroe and others Vindicated

Topic: Monroe and others Vindicated

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MonroeClassmate
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2010
Post Count: 2,088

Status: Offline

Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/15/2017 8:49:25 PM

Lots of smugness: only the experts know!

WSJ has a sports article today titled: "Hitting Gurus Battle Baseball" (page A-16 dated March 15, 2017)

Article states that a number of major league hitters, some washed up, have had a resurgence in hitting by practicing with non-major league hitting instructors.

What did these non-major league payroll instructors do? They watched hours upon hours of film to see what the great hitters have in common and stress these techniques to their students.

Cut from a team and one step out of baseball, one player had the instructor reverse years of teaching by major league organizations and the player now is a superstar with a $64 million contract! "These self-made hitting gurus didn't play in the big leagues....

One of the instructors asks, " Hasn't that happened in every industry, that headways are made by people who sit outside the box and were chastised and became martyrs."

Keep trying to innovate all you Monroe's out there. The experts do not have all the answers. Monroe = Martyr!!!

RSBobcat
General User

Member Since: 8/22/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 4,426

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/15/2017 11:45:22 PM

So - what do all the great hitters have in common with their 'technique" and Pete Rose's 4,562? Far as I can tell that "technique" was based on attitude, and balls (no - not "balls" as in bad/not in strike zone pitches). And - at the end of the day/game/season/career - delivering "hits"...

RS Bobcat

BillyTheCat
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Member Since: 10/6/2012
Post Count: 10,050

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/16/2017 1:18:54 PM

RSBobcat wrote:

Hate to tell you but it's 4,256 hits.

L.C.
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
Post Count: 10,470

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/16/2017 4:04:04 PM

MonroeClassmate wrote:

... "These self-made hitting gurus didn't play in the big leagues....
...

Are you suggesting that all people who have never played a game, but who watch it, know what they are talking about? Or that a select few people, people who very, very carefully study the game using advanced computer analytics, are able to learn enough to even teach experts?

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Bobcat Grad 86
General User

Member Since: 12/20/2004
Post Count: 1,397

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/16/2017 5:50:12 PM

Mike Barnett played one year at Ohio University (1977?) as a back-up catcher before a shoulder injury ended his career.

I met Mike in 1979 when I was the bat boy for the Columbus Clippers. I ran the scoreboard 1980-82. The year before Mike had approached the Clippers and inquired if they were interested in having a bullpen catcher. They scheduled Mike to audition and he caught future major league pitcher Odell Jones. They hired Mike for either $15 or $20 per game and he was allowed to eat with the team in the clubhouse following the games. For three years, Mike scheduled am spring quarter classes and would drive his pick-up truck back and forth from Athens to Columbus and back to Athens after midnight. He travelled with the team on the road the rest of the summer and after graduation he took part in spring training and was able to warm-up many of the Yankee Greats including Gossage, Guidry and Catfish Hunter.

I became very good friends with Mike in 1979 and he encouraged me to check out Ohio University as he thought it was a great fit for me.

Eventually Mike moved up to New York and was in charge of the video taping of the hitters for hitting coach Lou Pinnella. By this time I had moved to Virginia and it was hard to keep in touch pre-internet days.

Years later I am flipping channels and I see the Blue Jay's playing and they show the dugout and I jump up in my seat and yell to my wife, "There's Barney" in the Dugout. My first thought was why was in in the main dugout and not the bullpen. By this time we have internet and I go on the Blue Jays website and am shocked to see he is the Hitting Coach. Mike is about 5'9", squatty build and just does not look like an athlete. He could catch, chew and zip the ball back to the pitcher, but that was about it. We used to pitch a few balls to each other in 1979 and I always thought, how the hell did he play for Ohio U for a year.

Lou Pinnella was wonderful to Mike and really kept him involved in the meetings with the hitters. It was not so much how to hold the bat and the physical aspects, but a lot of information inventory on opposing pitchers.

Mike left the Yankees and was a coach at Tennessee for two year and was the interim head coach for part of the second season. Mike was then hired by the White Sox where he met a young manager named Terry Francona. I saw a 30 for 30 on Michael Jordan's baseball stint and they interviewed Mike.

Mike was the major league hitting coach for Toronto, Kansas City and Houston. Whenever he was between jobs, Francona hired him in Boston and now Cleveland where Mike main responsibility is reviewing plays and making the decision on the challenge. He still does a bit of secondary work in the batting department.

Mike and I reconnected on Facebook and it has been fun following him. He is an example of how hard work and determination can pay off even if you are not actually born with God Given talent.

Danny Schmitz who had played at Eastern Michigan was an infield for the Clippers in 1979 and has been the Bowling Green Manager for years. Hop Cassady was a coach on that team and for many years in Columbus. I used to catch for him while he hit fungos to the outfielders

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/161922290/indians-add-mike-... /

Some short video clips of Mike talking about hitting and coaching.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mike+barnett...

Last Edited: 3/16/2017 5:52:42 PM by Bobcat Grad 86

MonroeClassmate
General User

Member Since: 8/31/2010
Post Count: 2,088

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/16/2017 6:21:18 PM

Hey Grad86, thanks for the story, I enjoyed the read.

RSBobcat
General User

Member Since: 8/22/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 4,426

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/16/2017 10:52:12 PM

BillyTheCat wrote:

RSBobcat wrote:

Hate to tell you but it's 4,256 hits.

yep - typo

RS Bobcat

giacomo
General User

Member Since: 11/20/2007
Post Count: 2,690

Status: Offline

RE: Monroe and others Vindicated

Posted: 3/23/2017 2:45:34 PM

Grad, that is an inspirational tale! He was given a shot and made the most of it.

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