RMJ 5 February 18

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 ● Kissimmee

It was a glorious day in central Florida. Atypical, really. Sunny-and-mild is common. Sunny, mild, and with light breezes is the best. Usually the sun comes with a strong wind, but not today.

Once again, the workout was snappy. I was looking for heavy legs and tired arms, but I did not see them. When I was in their spikes, my body felt logy on the third or fourth day, even though I came to camp in good shape.

Perhaps these guys have found the secret of youth in the health drinks they stir up in the blender before practice. Shane Reynolds shared some of his with me, and I have to admit, I felt pretty good.

For the second day, the pitchers have been bunting off a pitching machine at game speed: more than 90 MPH. Today, the results were better. Dave Engle is our bunting coach, and he has been taught the standard procedure: Hold the bat out in front, level or with the barrel slightly up.

I mentioned to Dave that as a pitcher, I had abandoned the traditional method in the face of the “wheel play” that most teams use with a slow runner on second in the first-and-second, no-out situation. This play calls for the third-baseman to charge in, along with the pitcher and the first-baseman. The shortstop covers third, and the force at third is the goal of the defense.

There are two ways to beat this play. One is to punch the ball toward the vacated shortstop position. Properly placed, this bunt will produce a base hit. Improperly placed, it will produce a double play.

I departed from the norm and concentrated on deadening the ball and aiming it back toward the pitcher. My rationale was that most pitchers will take the out at first if there is any doubt about getting the out at third. If I deadened the ball just a little, the pitcher would always throw to first. This is the case even when there is a man on first, and you are trying to get him to second.

I found that a slow bunt back at the pitcher would work in both situations. Instead of trying to perfect a slow bunt to first and a firm bunt to third, I simply bunted everything to the pitcher.

Although this flew in the face of baseball wisdom, it worked. Engle picked up on it, to the delight of a handful of spectators who were in the bleachers.

When I arrived on the scene, outfielders James Mouton and Derek Bell were there watching, along with my old teammate (and our AAA hitting coach) Jimmy Wynn.

“All right, guys, bunt this first one right back to the mound,” Engle barked in like a drill sergeant, so everyone in the vicinity could hear. “Don’t get down in the count trying to chalk the line! Just bunt it fair.”

After each pitcher bunted 15 balls, Engle started a game whereby pitchers ran in and out of the cage one at a time, and he judged whether or not their bunts would be successful. The first two groups did a good job, but the third group, the Rats, got 14 in a row.

“That’s a good one,” Engle said. “James Mouton loves you. You just put that man in scoring position, and James is going to knock him in and win the game for you. Yes, that’s five in a row. If James doesn’t get him, in Derek [Bell] will. That’s the way to go.”

After the record of 14 had been established, the Goats rotated to the bunting field. “You guys will never beat the Rats,” Engle said before the drill started. “They got 14 in a row.”

The fans were laughing like crazy. “Thanks for the show, coach,” one of them said.

           

I made my way over to Field #1, where Sean Berry and Pat Listach were about to take ground balls, and Mouton would take some fly balls. Bell came up, wearing his uniform with a T-shirt instead of a jersey, and he asked to take some flies.

Bill Virdon looked at him and said, “You have to put your practice jersey on if you want to play.”

“I can take them like this,” Derek said.

“Not from me, you can’t,” Bill replied.

 After I got this job, I was required to take a psychological test. The test revealed that I was not strong in the area of discipline. I knew that the team was required by a sponsor to wear the practice jersey, but I probably wouldn’t have said anything.

Derek put his jersey on, and he went through the paces. He was a couple days early, and I was glad to see that he was eager to start.

I was especially glad to have Bill as my drill sergeant. And I was even happier to see Listach range far and wide, catching everything in sight.