Posted by: Charles Slavik (cslavik@tampabay.rr.com) on Fri Jun 6 19:56:14 2003

He hasn't been hitting home runs at the same prolific pace he's maintained over the last few years. The fences haven't been moved out at Wrigley, the pitching in the NL is not that much better this year. There is a steroid testing policy in place this year, that may just be a coincidence.

A lot of guys don't hit well after getting drilled in the melon.
Mentally, he can't be over the fear factor, many who've been beaned in a similar way say they never got over it psychologically.

The fact that he took one like that may have been the result of an adjustment he made. Gene Lamont was almost laughing about how easily they threw fastballs by Sammy in a recent series, if his problems were that obvious to him, they must have been in Sammy head. Throwing fastballs by a power hitter is some kind of kick in the groin. Dude is having a tough season.

He must have lost considerable bat speed coming into the season for some unknown reason. Or reasons known only to Sammy.


Regardless of the corked bat issue, I would like to hear some opinions/discussion on why Sammy isn't hitting since he got beaned. Personally, I'm not seeing any mechanics variation from before this event other than the possibility of the starting position of his hands seem farther away from from his body. Any thoughts on why he's struggling?