Dear players, parents, and coaches, The story below is basically the script for making changes, and giving yourself a chance to improve as a player. I preach this gospel almost every day. Too any players expect others to walk them through each step. Too many specialized trainers, hitting and pitching gurus, and elite teams out there. Its all UP TO YOU. The conversation Jim Schlossnagle had in 2008 with the collegian was the same as he had with many players, about making good decisions and about taking care of himself and doing the right things off the field. When it was over, the coach of Texas Christian University had no particular thought that the player would take his words to heart. He had made the same speech to players who didnt listen. But this player listened, to the degree that that very afternoon -- immediately -- he changed his diet, eliminating fast food. Schlossnagle’s talk with him clarified everything for him, said the player, Matt Carpenter. His body changed dramatically. He went from a pudgy infielder to a more dynamic player, leaner. But still, Carpenter was not a star prospect. He was drafted in the 13th round by the Cardinals, and he was such a baseball rat that the expectation among some at TCU was that he would play pro ball for two or three years, then return to start down a path to coaching. Instead, on Friday, Carpenter served as the tipping point to beating the best pitcher on the planet and propelled the Cardinals to the World Series. His 11-pitch at-bat against Clayton Kershaw, leading up to a double, changed everything in an inning in which the Cardinals forced Kershaw to throw 48 pitches and built a 4-0 lead. Carpenter told reporters later, “Hes the best pitcher in baseball. Hes a real tough at-bat. He got ahead of me like he almost always does. I just was -- I struck out my first at-bat. And honestly, when he got two strikes on me the second at-bat, my mindset immediately changed. Im not striking out. Im not going to let him strike me out right here. Im going to put this ball in play even if I roll it over and hit it softly. “He kept making good pitches, and I kept fouling them off. I dont remember how many it was, but just kept fouling them off. Then the crowd started getting into it a little bit, and I was able to get the count back to 2 2. And he finally made a mistake with the slider out over the plate, and I was able to hit it and got into scoring position with the double.” “I think that at bat right there,” Carlos Beltran said, “[he] just, he was able to put himself in a position where he was going to get a good pitch. He was fighting the fastball and fighting the slider, and at the same time, for me hitting behind him, all that did was allow me to see a lot of pitches also. I mean, when youre capable of fighting an at-bat that long, it was great to watch him just being able to come through.” The path to that moment started with Schlossnagle’s words to Carpenter back at TCU, and with Carpenter being willing to listen, and learn.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:48:59 +0000
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