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video and knock on a few more
doors. These were guys were just
one step from the big leagues. I
videotaped every hitter at every
at bat then went back to the hotel
and studied swings into the
night. I found two players who
I thought had flaws that would
hold them back from reaching the
MLB level.
After the next day’s game,
analysis in my hand, I tried to
flag the two players down as they
walked toward the left field club-
house. The first player wouldn’t
look at me. The second was Josh
Vitters, a hot prospect drafted
No. 1 by the Cubs five years
ago. He came over to me and I
introduced myself. I told him I
had done an analysis of his swing
and offered it to him. We talked
about his hitting for the next five
minutes. He told me he had been
struggling the first seven weeks
into the season. He asked me if
the fixes in the analysis would
give him more (needed) power.
I said not only more power, but
a higher average… more consis-
tency. He thanked me and we
parted ways.
It was May 21 and Vitters had
the following stats: .248 avg .394
slg .687 ops. Not good enough to
be called up to the Cubs.
Two months later, I was brows-
ing the Des Moines Cubs website
and I noticed that Vitters had
improved his stats to .304 avg
.513
slg .869 ops.
I made immediate plans to
revisit him. Maybe I had played a
part in his improvement. Maybe
he would give me a quote for
the hitting guide I was work-
ing on. The day before my trip
back to Des Moines, Vitters was
called up to the Cubs. I thought
my hopes of reconnecting with
him were lost. While it was easy
to flag down a player at a AAA
stadium, it seemed near impos-
sible to make contact with him at
Wrigley Field.
Three weeks later, I was the
first one through the gates at
Wrigley field and I was looking
for Josh Vitters. I watched the
Cubs take batting practice and
even though my seat was not
close to the field, I squeezed my
way past dozens of Cubs fans,
all seeking an elusive autograph
from anyone they called out to.
After batting practice the Cubs
players were quickly leaving the
field down the dugout steps. I
had positioned myself against the
back of the dugout, directly in
front of the steps.
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Cleveland Indians hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo (left) and Ken Brooke (middle)
work with an adult camper at the Proball clinic.
