Gerald Perry

[98navigator]

Cubs new hitting coach Gerald Perry's job is to help the team be more disciplined at the plate (overall). Included in that will, hopefully, be a higher team OBP.

 

 

DLee says:

 

Perry is keeping the hitters happy.

 

"We've gotten a lot of swings in this year," Lee said. "I can't remember this many. You're always swinging, which is good."

 

Perry's philosohy

 

...I want guys to go up ready to swing the bat, but be more disciplined and get a good pitch to hit," he said. "I want guys to be in an attack mode. Look for a pitch to hit, and you attack and you attack and you attack."

 

The key, he said, is putting the ball in play. That's much more effective than striking out, which the Cubs have done well, too.

 

"It's patience, but it's patience to hit a pitch that you're looking for and not just giving up strikes," he said. "The pitch you wind up taking because it's not the one you're looking for could be a strike, but you're just looking for something else."

 

Interesting fact

 

The Oakland Athletics followed Perry's guidance, and improved from a .243 first-half batting average to hit .279 in the second half. They also ranked second in the American League in walks, the fourth time he's helped a team rank first or second in the league in walks. He also did so in 2000-02 in Seattle, his first stint as a Major League hitting coach and first turn with Lou Piniella.

 

Perry's thoughts on the upcoming season

 

"I think the fans have a lot to look forward to. Expectations should be high. Mine are. They are through the clubhouse."

[CoolHandLuke]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That is Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines. Edited February 27, 2007 by CoolHandLuke

[A New Era]

Yay! Perry is good!!

[A New Era]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

[CoolHandLuke]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

 

I am not nitpicking. Derek Lee is not successful because he puts the ball in play a lot, it's because he swings at pitches he knows he can drive more often than not.

[Danny82]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

 

I am not nitpicking. Derek Lee is not successful because he puts the ball in play a lot, it's because he swings at pitches he knows he can drive more often than not.

See, I think the latter part of your sentence describes what Perry was saying. I understand him to mean that he wants the hitters to wait for a pitch they can drive and then crush it.

[David]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That is Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Reading that bothered me too. Nothing in the Perry quotes said anything about putting the ball in play, though. That's just Muskat interjecting like any other crappy beat writer who thinks strikeouts are the devil. (I know she attributes that information to Perry by writing, "Perry says," but I think that's more a result of her misinterpreting what he was talking about).

 

I think she has no idea what she's talking about, since she goes on with a quote where Perry seems to imply that his philosophy involves taking pitches even if they're strikes if they're not the pitch that the hitter is looking to drive.

 

I can't wait till I see the day where the mainstream is past this "strikeouts are worse than any other out" crap.

Edited February 27, 2007 by David

[David]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

 

Putting the ball in play for the sake of putting the ball in play is never a good thing, no matter if it's Pierre, Derrek Lee, or Barry Bonds. Therefore, putting the ball in play should never be anyone's "key" to anything.

 

Fortunately, I don't think Perry said any such thing nor do I think he believes any such thing.

[RynoRules]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

 

I am not nitpicking. Derek Lee is not successful because he puts the ball in play a lot, it's because he swings at pitches he knows he can drive more often than not.

 

Uh, isn't that pretty much the same thing Perry said?

 

You are nitpicking.

[Dirt Dog Sparly]

Look at all the quotes in total. He wants the hitters to attack. Not hacking attack but looking for the "happy pitch" attack. You do know what a "happy pitch" is dont you? Its the pitch that you hit hard because you are getting that pitch in that location that you are either looking for, (situational), or never miss, (player strength).

 

I cant believe the ignorant nitpicking I have seen on this board the last few weeks. :roll:

[rawaction]

In all honesty, I think this is the same philosophy that Baker and his boys had, they just didn't articulate it well. I know we all like to make fun of his quotes about "not walking across the plate" and "clogging bases", but I think those comments stemmed from him not being good with the media and getting flustered into those stupid statements.

 

The key with Perry is that he seems to know how to articulate and coach. The former Cubs staff seemed to focus more on just putting the ball in play and was big on not taking strikes. Perry seems to focus more on finding the pitch to hit. Obviously personnel has a lot to do with it, but Perry has a track record of success that shows he knows how to get hitters to recognize their strengths, which is the key to hitting.

 

Jones and Soriano have the most to gain from Perry, both have had completely unacceptable walk rates for a lot of their career, but both have also shown the ability to take walks at a respectable rate in recent years (Soriano-06, Jones-05). I would have liked to have seen him work with Corey.

[Amazing_Grace]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That is Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

A Major League caliber ballplayer ought to be able to put the ball in play with 2 strikes rather than striking out, and they ought to be able to be patient, work the count, and wait for good pitches to drive as well. These two are not mutually exclusive. Dusty just seemed to think so.

[A New Era]

I don't really like that his key is simply "putting the ball in play". That Juan Pierre to a T, and to most of us that is not a good thing. I'd prefer it if he said something along the lines of putting the ball in play solidly. That said, I am pretty optimistic about him. He definitely can't be any worse than Sarge or Clines.

 

Stop nitpicking. The key is always putting the ball in play. Juan Pierre just hit very weakly. When DLee puts "a ball in play", that is much different than a "pierre ball" put into play. .

 

Putting the ball in play for the sake of putting the ball in play is never a good thing, no matter if it's Pierre, Derrek Lee, or Barry Bonds. Therefore, putting the ball in play should never be anyone's "key" to anything.

 

Fortunately, I don't think Perry said any such thing nor do I think he believes any such thing.

 

Yeah I guess you're right about that. However my point is why nitpick every little thing some guy (or carrie muskat interpreted) said? Gerald Perry is gonna be good. Because he has improved teams dramatically in the past. Don't worry about nitpicking a silly sentence because he didn't (or she didn't) say it exactly how you wanted him to say it. Sheesh. We nitpick around here too much. And Yes I realize I'm NITPICKING about that. :lol:

[imb]

Yeah, whoever wrote that article sort of added the whole "its better than striking out!" thing on their own, that wasn't Perry.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Look at all the quotes in total. He wants the hitters to attack. Not hacking attack but looking for the "happy pitch" attack. You do know what a "happy pitch" is dont you? Its the pitch that you hit hard because you are getting that pitch in that location that you are either looking for, (situational), or never miss, (player strength).

 

I cant believe the ignorant nitpicking I have seen on this board the last few weeks. :roll:

 

yup

[Laura]

Then I suggest not adding to it.

[Ivy Walls]

Cubs new hitting coach Gerald Perry's job is to help the team be more disciplined at the plate (overall). Included in that will, hopefully, be a higher team OBP.

 

 

DLee says:

 

Perry is keeping the hitters happy.

 

"We've gotten a lot of swings in this year," Lee said. "I can't remember this many. You're always swinging, which is good."

 

 

Okay I have read a lot of uneducated thoughts on this new approach. Something else this new coaching (game) approach is part of an overall. Today I read that Trammel was grilling the infield with fundamental drills. I have heard that the pitchers will not only bunt but bunt for hits and force the defense to defend and not merely lay down.

 

Baker was a joke as an active approach manager. Piniella is an active fundamental baseball manager.

 

Now back to hitting. The greatest hitting philosophy was Ted Williams, he had an old graphic where he would only swing with less than 2 strikes at pitches in his hitting zone. That zone got progressively smaller if he got hitter's counts at 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 and finally 3-0. If the count was 1-2, 2-2, or 3-2 he got defensive and put the ball in play.

 

Williams attacked the ball and hit mistakes.

 

Now this kind of philosophy in competitive golf. Instead of attacking a pitcher with a hitter's account but attacking the golf course when the ball and situation allowed the highest chance of success.

 

In basketball it is game situations where shots are taken in rhythm and in the shooting range. It is all game management and why there are manager and coaches.

 

This is what spring training is all about, setting the tone and expectations.

 

Now some thoughts: Murton will naturally succeed in this environment while Jones and Floyd will be critisized with their free swinging nature and lower OBP'es.

 

This is good,

 

 

Perry's philosohy

 

...I want guys to go up ready to swing the bat, but be more disciplined and get a good pitch to hit," he said. "I want guys to be in an attack mode. Look for a pitch to hit, and you attack and you attack and you attack."

 

The key, he said, is putting the ball in play. That's much more effective than striking out, which the Cubs have done well, too.

 

"It's patience, but it's patience to hit a pitch that you're looking for and not just giving up strikes," he said. "The pitch you wind up taking because it's not the one you're looking for could be a strike, but you're just looking for something else."

 

Interesting fact

 

The Oakland Athletics followed Perry's guidance, and improved from a .243 first-half batting average to hit .279 in the second half. They also ranked second in the American League in walks, the fourth time he's helped a team rank first or second in the league in walks. He also did so in 2000-02 in Seattle, his first stint as a Major League hitting coach and first turn with Lou Piniella.

 

Perry's thoughts on the upcoming season

 

"I think the fans have a lot to look forward to. Expectations should be high. Mine are. They are through the clubhouse."

[Magnetic Curses]

The key, he said, is putting the ball in play. That's much more effective than striking out, which the Cubs have done well, too.

 

there are so many things wrong with this statement that i don't know where to begin, i'm honestly about to blow my top over this.

 

you all know my problem with "putting the ball in play" just to put it in play. putting the ball in play for it's own sake takes pressure off the pitcher to make a good pitch and off the defense to make a difficult play on a hard hit ball.

 

i understand what he's said about waiting for a good pitch, and i'm thinking the media is just not understanding what he's trying to say. i think this because of the last part of that sentence.

 

the cubs were 14 in the NL in strikeouts last season, 14th the year before that, and 9th the year before that. the cubs don't strikeout, which is a symptom of their overall problem: they don't take enough pitches and they always try to put the ball in play. i'd rather the cubs strikeout more if it means they're getting deeper into counts and driving the ball with authority.

 

i think perry is trying to make both sides happy, here. the media and casual fan base doesn't like to hear "we're going to strikeout more", so it becomes, "don't get us wrong, we want to put the ball in play, but we want to wait for the right pitch."

 

the strikeout is more effective than an out in play when the hitter induces a greater number or pitches.

[CubsWin]

In all honesty, I think this is the same philosophy that Baker and his boys had, they just didn't articulate it well. I know we all like to make fun of his quotes about "not walking across the plate" and "clogging bases", but I think those comments stemmed from him not being good with the media and getting flustered into those stupid statements.

 

The key with Perry is that he seems to know how to articulate and coach. The former Cubs staff seemed to focus more on just putting the ball in play and was big on not taking strikes. Perry seems to focus more on finding the pitch to hit. Obviously personnel has a lot to do with it, but Perry has a track record of success that shows he knows how to get hitters to recognize their strengths, which is the key to hitting.

 

Jones and Soriano have the most to gain from Perry, both have had completely unacceptable walk rates for a lot of their career, but both have also shown the ability to take walks at a respectable rate in recent years (Soriano-06, Jones-05). I would have liked to have seen him work with Corey.

Excellent post, raw. I couldn't agree more.

 

People can and will read whatever they want into a quote, but the thing that stood out most from this article for me was something that can't be twisted to make it fit what you want it to fit. One fact in this article was...

They (the A's) also ranked second in the American League in walks, the fourth time he's (Perry) helped a team rank first or second in the league in walks. He also did so in 2000-02 in Seattle, his first stint as a Major League hitting coach and first turn with Lou Piniella.

Now, a lot of that has to do with the make-up of the teams he was coaching, and I doubt the Cubs have the type of hitters to make '07 the 5th time Perry accomplishes that feat, but if he can get them in the middle of the pack, the Cubs will be vastly improved and should be in good shape when it comes to scoring runs given their SLG potential.

[A New Era]

Oh Gerald Perry will help this team walk more. There is no doubt about that. Just look at the man's history.

 

Some time this season, mid-season we will all be talking about how much the cubs walk, and how much better at the plate they look. And we'll be crediting Gerald Perry for it. .

[CuseCubFan69]

Look at all the quotes in total. He wants the hitters to attack. Not hacking attack but looking for the "happy pitch" attack. You do know what a "happy pitch" is dont you? Its the pitch that you hit hard because you are getting that pitch in that location that you are either looking for, (situational), or never miss, (player strength).

 

I cant believe the ignorant nitpicking I have seen on this board the last few weeks. :roll:

 

I think a lot of us are just anxious to get the games started.

 

Besides, I like to have this happy pitch that you're talking about. Is this like your happy place with a scantly dressed woman, grandma dressed nice and a midget riding a bike?

[CuseCubFan69]

In all honesty, I think this is the same philosophy that Baker and his boys had, they just didn't articulate it well. I know we all like to make fun of his quotes about "not walking across the plate" and "clogging bases", but I think those comments stemmed from him not being good with the media and getting flustered into those stupid statements.

 

The key with Perry is that he seems to know how to articulate and coach. The former Cubs staff seemed to focus more on just putting the ball in play and was big on not taking strikes. Perry seems to focus more on finding the pitch to hit. Obviously personnel has a lot to do with it, but Perry has a track record of success that shows he knows how to get hitters to recognize their strengths, which is the key to hitting.

 

Jones and Soriano have the most to gain from Perry, both have had completely unacceptable walk rates for a lot of their career, but both have also shown the ability to take walks at a respectable rate in recent years (Soriano-06, Jones-05). I would have liked to have seen him work with Corey.

 

IMO, Perry may be better at recognizing different hitters strengths and not putting them into 2 pools, power hitter or slap hitter. I suppose this is my wishful thinking talking but I'm hoping he is capable of this.

 

And you are so right about being articulate with the press and it also helps if you can be this way with hitters. If Perry can get his point across to all the hitters on what he expects and how to go about it I think the Cubs will be better off than the previous coaches who didn't work hard at anything.

 

I agree Soriano and Jones have the most to gain but they are old dogs and I hope as I mentioned before that Perry can reach these guys and push them to a higher level. Imagine if the light goes on for Soriano like it did Sammy? If he gets 90-100 BB's a year this team would a force.

[goonys evil twin]

In all honesty, I think this is the same philosophy that Baker and his boys had, they just didn't articulate it well. I know we all like to make fun of his quotes about "not walking across the plate" and "clogging bases", but I think those comments stemmed from him not being good with the media and getting flustered into those stupid statements.

 

I think it's pretty clear that this isn't true. Baker had no patience for patience. He despised patience and despised walks. I think Perry is clearly different. Baker may have talked about being patient within the strike zone, but he made it plainly obvious he wanted his players to swing early and swing often. He wasn't interested in having guys get deep into counts and get a good pitch to hit. He wanted them swinging at the first thing that was remotely close, then he'd stand around confused when his guys would swing at stuff that wasn't close.

 

It's a huge mistake to think this is the same stuff Baker preached.

[David]

Yep.

 

How many times did the Cubs give the opposing pitcher easy 1-2-3 innings by swinging early in the count? Baker openly encouraged that crap.

[Jehrico]

Yep.

 

How many times did the Cubs give the opposing pitcher easy 1-2-3 innings by swinging early in the count? Baker openly encouraged that crap.

I think the big difference is that Perry wants guys to look for a pitch that they can make solid contact on, regardless of whether it's a strike or not. Baker wouldn't acknowledge that sometimes pitches can be strikes and also be more or less unhittable (unless you're looking for Juan Pierre quality contact), and wanted them swinging at anything that was close enough for blind Angel Hernandez to call a strike.