Read: The Legend of Tony Bernazard
According to John Harper of the Daily News, “It turns out that Tony Bernazard dictated the extreme opposite-field hitting philosophy the Mets adopted last season, which may have contributed to their stunningly low home run total.”
…well, it may have…
…or, it may have been the lack of home run hitters in the lineup…
…in either case, i have noticed the entire camp seems more casual, more relaxed than last year, when it was very peppy, very up-beat, complete with lots of rah-rah cheering, high-fives, etc., almost like a high school practice… this year, it’s more calm, more professional, guys are doing their drills, doing their work, and people seem more comfortable, there’s more talking, more camaraderie it seems… none of this really matters, i would think, or it might, but we’ll not know until the end of the year… the point is, i talked to a team official who told me that the previous, high-energy approach was all tony b… whereas this camp is a direct reflection of Jerry Manuel… the thinking, from what i can tell is, players always show up to spring training in top shape and do not need to waste time doing high-intensity workouts for their bodies, instead they’re better suited focusing day in and day out on skills, on fielding ground balls, working on cut-off throws, etc., and so hopefully that will help in terms of how fundamentally sound the team is this season…
To read quotes from Howard Johnson, regarding the differences, and similarities, between this year’s approach to hitting, compared to last year’s, check out Harper’s column here.
