BLOG POST | May 20, 2024
By: Josh Paul
The Power of Boring
Edgar Martinez took the most boring batting practice I’ve ever seen.
Round 1: 5 easy one-hop ground-balls to the second baseman (with a weight on his bat)
Round 2: 5 easy one-hop ground balls to the second baseman
Round 3: 5 line drives to right field
Round 4: 5 line drives gap-to-gap
Round 5: 5 deep drives gap-to-gap
Round 6: 5 deep drives to left field
The first time I saw this, I was confused. He was one of my favorite hitters to watch as a kid, so I expected him to put on a show. It was so boring. And it was just as boring the second day. The third day. The fourth day. It was the same exact 30 swings every day. Boring.
Why would such a great hitter hit a bunch of lousy ground balls when he could easily deposit every pitch into the seats? Shouldn’t he be coming out of his shows to hit every ball as hard as he could? He hit four of his six rounds without hitting a single home run. What was he doing?
His games looked a lot different. He smoked every type of pitch he saw, to all fields. We couldn’t get him out away. We couldn’t bust him inside. He wouldn’t chase. He wouldn’t pull off. He was always on time. He fouled off every nasty two-strike pitch on the corner. It felt like he knew every pitch before it was thrown. It wasn’t boring. It was merciless.
His work was so boring that they gave him a plaque in a little museum in upstate New York.
So, how exciting is your batting practice?
Are you lighting up the iPad before the game even starts?
Are you maximizing your exit velo and launch angle with max effort swings?
Are you taking dead aim at the top of the pull-side foul pole?
Or, are you thoughtfully and intentionally fine-tuning your swing?
That’s so boring…
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