When hitters slump, coaches take the rap: batting instructors are often blamed for the poor performances by the players and clubs they "tutor" - Professional Scapegoats

Baseball Digest, March, 2002 by Jerome Holtzman

"I remember once he went to the end of the bat and hit a home run. He came into the dugout full of smiles, very pleased with himself. I was really mad. I told him `If you don't choke up, I'm going to choke you.'"

GETTING AN EDGE ON THE COMPETITION

"GETTING AN EDGE ON A PITCHER IS ALL PART OF A LEARNING PROCESS FOR HITTERS. THERE'S A period where you don't jump on your mistakes as quickly as you should. The first three years should be a real learning cycle--just trying to get it going. Then, somewhere along the line, things start to gel for a hitter. Those are some of the things you have to learn to cope with as you go along. But I've seen too many hitters waste too many years learning simple, easy things and making the same mistakes for six years longer than they should have and not really getting the end results they were physically capable of achieving.

"Proper Thinking--that's what is lacking in today's hitters. I see good swings, I see great speed, I see great talent. I see an awful lot of things that would just make me rub my hands in glee and delight, and I think, `Boy, look at this guy!' And then invariably he fails. This is one of the saddest things for me in baseball because I see a ton of talent there. Players are bigger, stronger, and faster, but they don't know that little game between the hitter and pitcher."

--Ted Williams in his book, Ted Williams' Hit List by Jim Prime

Jerome Holtzman is the official historian of Major League Baseball and frequent contributor to MLB.com