Rebbiv
Senior Member
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2011
- Messages
- 6,305
Some of Inge's quotes from the past:
"I just don't understand it. I've played baseball for most of my life, and I know it's hard to hit .300, but it's harder to hit 180-something. That's almost impossible. It's unbelievable how you can put that many balls in play and get so few hits when other guys are hitting 18-hoppers that go through (the infield). After a while," Inge said, with a sigh, it wears on you."
“I can’t explain it,” said Inge, batting .242 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs. “I’m getting pitched like I’m Babe Ruth. Everything is on the corner. I haven’t seen a ball in the middle of the plate for a week.”
He and Lloyd McClendon, the Tigers hitting coach, have been working on various approaches, but the Inge-McClendon marriage never has been a particularly good one, save for the one season (first half, 2009) when Inge bought into McClendon's plan and put together an awesome first three months: .268, 21 home runs, 58 RBIs.
Inge says the current coaching thought that Inge's hands need to be raised isn't the answer.
"It's not my hands," he said, emphatically. "I don't even know what it is. Your objective is to get into a good hitting position and be short to the ball.
"But this isn't mechanics. What's going on is a fluke."
'I'm doing the best I can."
He says that his defense, which at times has appeared to be a half-note off, has absolutely been no casualty.
"No, not at all," he said. "In fact, my range is better than it's ever been. I'm not even having to dive for a lot of balls I used to have to dive for. I can anticipate the ball better than I did in years before. I've made a few very, what you might call flukish, errors."
"I just don't understand it. I've played baseball for most of my life, and I know it's hard to hit .300, but it's harder to hit 180-something. That's almost impossible. It's unbelievable how you can put that many balls in play and get so few hits when other guys are hitting 18-hoppers that go through (the infield). After a while," Inge said, with a sigh, it wears on you."
“I can’t explain it,” said Inge, batting .242 with 12 home runs and 56 RBIs. “I’m getting pitched like I’m Babe Ruth. Everything is on the corner. I haven’t seen a ball in the middle of the plate for a week.”
He and Lloyd McClendon, the Tigers hitting coach, have been working on various approaches, but the Inge-McClendon marriage never has been a particularly good one, save for the one season (first half, 2009) when Inge bought into McClendon's plan and put together an awesome first three months: .268, 21 home runs, 58 RBIs.
Inge says the current coaching thought that Inge's hands need to be raised isn't the answer.
"It's not my hands," he said, emphatically. "I don't even know what it is. Your objective is to get into a good hitting position and be short to the ball.
"But this isn't mechanics. What's going on is a fluke."
'I'm doing the best I can."
He says that his defense, which at times has appeared to be a half-note off, has absolutely been no casualty.
"No, not at all," he said. "In fact, my range is better than it's ever been. I'm not even having to dive for a lot of balls I used to have to dive for. I can anticipate the ball better than I did in years before. I've made a few very, what you might call flukish, errors."
