Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Fri Apr 23 03:13:30 2004

>>> Jack, In the fall of 1992 Barry had surgery on his right elbow, and then again in the late 90's. It is the reason he wears the elbow guard.He still can't straighten out his right arm. This may have been a factor in the change in his swing, although he won the MVP in 92' and 93.Did you ever talk to Bobby about what you saw in Barry's swing? I can remember when Will Clark's hitting fell off in the early 90's and people had a hundred ideas about what was wrong with his swing. He had nerve damage in his right foot and could not set it down without pain. Picking on Bobby or Dusty would be fine if you knew the circumstances. When McGwire had a serious foot problem along with back problems, he hit .201 in 1991. I would not blame his hitting coach for the .201 BA. <<<

Hi Doug

Barry kept his right arm bent during the swing before 1992. You ask, “Did you ever talk to Bobby about what you saw in Barry's swing?” I not only talked too dusty about Barry’s mechanics, I sent him a video of the problem. Dusty and I talked about developing a video on Top-Hand-Torque, but he said that although he understood it, he did not think it could be taught.

Will Clark may have injured his foot at some point, but that does explain why his transfer mechanics went more linear and remained so. Doug, all slumps are not injury orientated. Most are changes in mechanics.

You stated, When McGwire had a serious foot problem along with back problems, he hit .201 in 1991. I would not blame his hitting coach for the .201 BA” -- I would blame him if Mark followed his advice. That is one of the coaches I was referring to regarding “Getting back to the basics.” I saw him in a an interview where he outlined what Mark needed to do to get out of his slump. What he prescribed was pure linear principles. I can still remember two points he made. (1) Less bat wrap (2) take the loop out of his swing – hands straighter to the ball. Mark would remain in a slump for as long as he followed that advice.

Jack Mankin