Mattingly Don - Don Mattinglys hitting is simple: the ABCs of batting .300

ALSO BY JIM ROSENTHAL

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DON MATTINGLYS HITTING IS SIMPLE . Copyright 2007 by Don Mattingly and Jim Rosenthal. Foreword copyright 2007 by Rod Carew. Preface copyright 2007 by Joe Torre. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Photographs copyright Tom DiPace

BOOK DESIGN BY AMANDA DEWEY

ISBN-10: 0-312-36620-5

ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36620-9

First Edition: March 2007

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S pecial thanks to Ray Schulte and Kate Manchester at Ironclad Authenticswithout their hard work and support this book could not have become a reality. Thanks to Tom DiPace, a great photographer and collaborator. Michael Homier and George Witte at St. Martins always believed in this book, and for that the authors are much appreciative.

I love to hit. I always have. Even now, more than twenty years after my 3,000th hit, I love to take a ball pitched to the outside part of the plate and lace it down the third baseline. And as easy as hitting sometimes appeared to be for me, I always get a laugh when people say I was a natural hitter. There is no such thing as a natural hitter. Sure, nature does play a part, but there is more nurture involved than there is nature.

No one understands this better than Don Mattingly. I was fortunate enough to meet Don when he was just coming up as a young player, and am happy to still consider him a friend. He has graciously credited me with being a positive influence on him, both as a hitter and as a model for how to comport yourself on and off the field. For that, I am honored.

Don and I have talked about hitting for hours. From those conversations I have come to know both the level and depth of Dons understanding of how to hit, and how to teach hitting. Don knows there is no magic bullet to being a good hitter. He knows that different situations in a game demand different approaches to hitting. For that very reason, you never saw Don Mattingly get himself out, or give away an at bat. Don understood that as personal as hitting is, sometimes it was more important to give yourself up to move a runner over than it was to selfishly try and be a hero. Thats why he was a great hitter.

Don hated making an out, and he worked tirelessly to do everything possible to avoid making outs. Read his words carefully. Hear what he has to say. Practice what he preaches. Hes accomplished everything in the batters box that any player could ever hope to accomplish. Now its your turn. Work hard and good luck.

Rod Carew
www.Rodcarew29.com

T here is no better teacher of hitting than Don Mattingly. He has the information, intelligence, experience, and passion to give playersat all levelswhat they need to be successful. When Don made the decision to coach at the major-league level for the New York Yankees I knew hed be outstanding. He is very energetic. He has no problem handling an enormous workload. Theres no limit on what he wants to learn and how he is able to communicate with the players. He would make a great major-league manager right now. He has no problem with the fear of failingthats not even part of his vocabulary. Don has a fire burning inside of him to be the best, and to help others achieve their personal best. Don is always there for his players. And believe me, players in the big leagues right now demand so much more from their coaches because of the information that we get for them.

Don has at his fingertips all the information our players need: what a pitcher is likely to throw when hes ahead or behind in the count, his tendencies and patterns to try to get hitters out. But Dons value to the Yankees goes way beyond his teaching skills and value as a hitting coach. His personality is so good. Its almost like Donnie is still a player, to be honest, and that ability to banter with guys like Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi is an invaluable asset to me as a manager. Whatever your goals in baseball, Don Mattingly is the perfect source of information to get you headed in the right direction.

Joe Torre
Yankee Stadium
August 2006

M y goal in writing this book is to help you to become a better hitter with simple, basic, and useful information. Im not a hitting guru who claims to have all the answers. Im just a hitting coach who has some good ideas and hands-on drills to help you to improve and to make steady progress. There are a lot of coaches with good information. But the learning process can get very complicated. Im here to make life as simple as possible. The information in this book is a foundation to keep you focused on getting better through hard work and sound mechanics. Enjoy hitting and playing baseball to the best of your ability. Believe in yourself and be sure to have fun along the way.

The single most important part of becoming a good hitteror even a great hitteris saying to yourself before you step into the batters box: Im going to get a hit against this pitcher. Im not going to pull away from the ball. I will not be afraid. I will stay in there and put the bat on the ball. He is not getting me out or keeping me from hitting the ball hard somewhere.

All the mechanics and drills are secondary to you making this statement in your mind"I can and I will get a hit against this pitcher! If you want to take it to the next level, you must have this approach.

This is the one part of hitting that no coach can teach you. The best hitting coach in the world cant help you unless you have the mind-set that you will not give into that pitcheryou will not take no for an answer. And if you dont get it done, you must keep working and keep fighting until you do get it done the next time around.