Posted by: Jack Mankin (MrBatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Feb 11 22:24:05 2002

>>> Jack, I don't think sammy chose his mechanics, I think that it was a natural swing for him and his parents could'nt afford to send him to a hitting instructor. I am coaching h.s. hitters and my 3-4-5 hitters have 1 lesson in their life between them. The other punch hitters are at lessons every week and I can't change them in season but I am starting to open their eyes. <<<

Hi RQL

I think you are right about Sammy’s swing. – Last summer I parked my car under a shade tree just outside the left field fence to watch a 11 – 12 year old game. I was a few minutes early and watched the boys hit fly balls to each other. I thought I might need to move the car as a couple of the boys could easily reach me from the plate. They would toss the ball up and swing with a loose rhythmic swing that was a pleasure to watch. But that all changed when they came to the plate in the game. They swung like they were taught.

Jack Mankin