Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Sat Apr 24 03:32:03 2004

>>> After a poor first half of the year, including last year's All-Star game, A-Rod went on a tear and won the American League MVP award. Did you notice in your studies that in the succeeding months his swing improved? Is it a case of his swing being poor in early July, back to normal in Aug-Sept, and now back to his early July swing? <<<

Hi JJA

I did not analyze A-Rod’s swings during the times you mentioned. But knowing at different times that he has shown the capacity for the swing flaw I described, I would not rule out the possibility it may be re-occurring problem for him. Studying why good hitters have batting slumps was a passion of mine for years. I found that almost invariably when a good hitter went into a slump there was a corresponding change in his mechanics from when he was hitting well. I put to gather a tape (frame-by-frame analysis) of many noted hitters before and during slumps.

Jack Mankin