Rickey to be a Spring Instructor

[Elster88]

abogdan wrote: Am I the only one who'd rather have a 83-year old Rickey as the 5th OF than Endy Chavez, Tike Redman, or Ice Williams?

No.

I'm guessing that he's only coaching in hopes that he can parlay it into a shot at playing. I doubt coaching will hold his interest for long. Not that I know him or anything.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Kaz may not have piled up stolen bases, but he has stolen at an 83% success rate between injuries --- better even than Rickey's rate.

Not exactly mind-blowing over 24 attempts, but it's hardly pathetic.

He didn't even have the advantage that Juan Pierre and Jimmy Rolins did of getting to run against Mike Piazza one day every nine.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Oh, shit. Did I just stumble into a cap-lock battle?

[Elster88]

]Kaz may not have piled up stolen bases, but he has stolen at an 83% success rate between injuries --- better even than Rickey's rate.

Damn. Maybe I should look up some numbers before posting. Who the heck was I thinking of that has speed but can't steal bases?

[MFS62]

Edgy DC wrote: Oh, shit. Did I just stumble into a cap-lock battle?

Where are Flatt and Scruggs when you may need them?

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

]Maybe I should look up some numbers before posting.

Yeah, well I totally fudged the data on that "one day in nine" thing.

[nymr83]

Matsui hasn't exactly stolen "as advertised" even though his rate is fine. rey ordonez always seemed fast but couldnt steal bags.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Hard for Rey to steal a base while trotting back to the dugout after yet another out.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. You're right though, even when he did reach base, Rey never seemed much of a threat to take off and swipe a base.

Speed is obviously a great asset to have when stealing bases, but there is far more that goes into the art of base stealing than just speed. Hopefully, it is that knowledge that Rickey will be able to impart to the Mets players.

[MFS62]

Could Rickey have taught Rey how to steal?
Enjoy,
Later
*******************************************************
(With apologies to Marvin Gaye)

Ooh, we’re one run down tonight Rey babe
Shea’s hot just like an oven
A steal we be lovin’

And Rey babe,
Take a lead that’s much longer
A first step that is stronger
And then we get that feeling
Of Rey’s ineffectual stealin’
Ineffectual stealin’, oh Rey babe
Get on down that line
If you ‘re safe it would ease my mind
Ineffectual stealin’, is no good to see
Ineffectual stealin’ is what your steal rate be.

Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up,
You were thrown out tonight
Wake up, Wake up, Wake up, Wake up,
Rickey’ll show you to do it right

I want Effectual Stealing
Effectual Stealing is good to see
Makes me feel so fine, it's such a rush
Helps to relieve the mind, and it's good for us
Effectual Stealing, baby, is good for me
Effectual Stealing is something that's good for me
And it's good for me and it's good to me

When I get this feeling,
I need Effectual Stealing

[Guest sharpie]

Good one, MFS.

[Guest Edgy DC]

One obvious thing about this Rickey thing that occured to me but wasn't worth saying: Why get very upset about giving somebody a role as a spring training instructor? Not unlike a spring-training tryout player, if he doesn't work out, you'll have to be reminded that he ever wore the uniform come April 4.

One not-so obvious thing about this Rickey thing that occured to me just now: If Jose Reyes picks up 15% of what Rickey seems to know about plate discipline, it would be, like, the most wonderful thing in the world.

[Elster88]

It would be nice. I've wondered if that's something that can be learned. Not sure that Rickey can teach it, or anyone really.

[Guest abogdan]

Getting On Base Jose's Target:

]"With the team we've got, I have to get on base a lot," Reyes said yesterday upon showing up at Mets camp. "We've got Carlos Delgado now. We've got [Carlos] Beltran, too. Paul Lo Duca. So I have to get on base as much as possible." "A lot of times, I make an out on the first pitch, so that's something I have to learn," said Reyes, who led the majors in triples (17) and the NL in stolen bases (60) last season. "And this year, I'm going to learn more, because we've got a lot of good people around the team."

[Guest Edgy DC]

Reyes off and running
By JOHN DELCOS
jdelcos@lohud.com
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 22, 2006)


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ask any teacher, and he or she will say the same thing: Learning is easy when the student is enthusiastic.

Mets shortstop Jose Reyes couldn't have been more wide-eyed.

The Mets' leadoff hitter and the National League's reigning stolen-base leader was about to be introduced to the best ever in both categories: Rickey Henderson, a future Hall of Famer who's not quite ready to call it quits.

"I can't wait to meet him," Reyes said. "I'm ready to work."

The two chatted on the 90-minute bus ride here from Port St. Lucie, and Henderson held court around the batting cage during batting practice. Reyes and Carlos Beltran were among the listeners.

So was Julio Franco, who, even at the age of 47, was still taking notes.

"He's the best at what he does," Franco said. "The day you stop learning is the day to go home."

That's a concept some never learn but one Reyes has already grasped.

"He can teach me a lot," Reyes said. "He's one of the best leadoff hitters ever in the game. He knows what I have to do to get better."

More important than knowing Reyes' flaws is that Henderson knows how to correct them. That's why he's in camp as a special instructor and will return later this summer.

That is, of course, unless Henderson hooks on with another major-league team. He's played with nine — including the Yankees and Mets — and had four stints with Oakland and two with San Diego.

"One-eighty-seven," said Henderson, 47, when asked how much he weighed, one pound more than when he played and rang up 1,406 stolen bases, more than anybody who ever laced up spikes.

"Yeah, I can still run. I haven't gotten the opportunity to continue. But I love the game."

If nobody calls, Henderson envisions coaching becoming a full-time gig.

Reyes led the National League with 60 stolen bases last season but had only 27 walks with 78 strikeouts and a .300 on-base percentage.

On-base percentage is the lead domino in stealing more bases and scoring more runs.

"My job is to get on base," Reyes said. "I have to get on for the big guys."

Which, of course, is not that easy, said Henderson, who considers Reyes a raw talent, one who has been excelling more on his natural physical abilities than on skill.

When he combines the two, the Mets will have a star.

"He can steal as many bases as he wants to," Henderson said. "The question is whether he wants to."

"I'll get more than 60, for sure," Reyes said.

How?

Henderson said Reyes has a lot to learn at the plate, and more once he reaches first base.

For starters, Reyes has to learn how to hit. Even though Reyes had 190 hits last season, Henderson said there's more Reyes can do at the plate, and it seems so simple.

"He has to be able to hit the fastball," Henderson said. "I wasn't going to miss the fastball. And he has to learn how to hit with two strikes."

When a hitter times himself for a fastball, he can adjust to the slower breaking ball, and when a hitter can protect himself with two strikes, even if he doesn't get a hit, he could prolong the at-bat for a walk or to advance the runner.

"I swung at a lot of bad pitches last year," Reyes said. "Last year, I didn't take a walk. This year, I will be more patient. I'm going to be aggressive and look for my pitch."

Once on base, Reyes admits he falls into a trap common with a lot of base stealers these days in that they try to outrun the ball.

"I use my speed," Reyes said. "I have to learn to read the pitchers better."

Not only that, Henderson said, but he also has to get a better lead and jump, which is where the base is stolen.

Henderson placed a bottle of water on the ground and compared the initial pivot step taken by most runners to his slide step with his right leg, the one closest to the next base.

"You have to stay low, like a sprinter," said Henderson, who, with his first step consistently landed at least a foot closer to the bottle than he did the conventional way.

Above all, Henderson said Reyes needs to develop the mentality of not caring if he gets caught.

"You have to keep running," Henderson said. "I always believed I was going to be safe."

Reach John Delcos at jdelcos@lohud.com.

[Willets Point]

Before class with Rickey:

]"My job is to get on base," Reyes said. "I have to get on for the big guys."

After class with Rickey:

]"Jose's job is to get on base," Reyes said. "Jose has to get on for the big guys."

[Guest Rotblatt]

Willets Point wrote: Before class with Rickey: ]"My job is to get on base," Reyes said. "I have to get on for the big guys." After class with Rickey: ]"Jose's job is to get on base," Reyes said. "Jose has to get on for the big guys."

LOL. For real. Totally embarassing for me, since someone just walked by my office.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's interesting that the only things Henderson discusses is hitting and running, and not not swinging.

It's interesting he mentions the importance of hitting the fastball. I don't know. Maybe raising your OBP begins with being enough of a fastball hitter that it drives pitchers to their offspeed pitches, which lead to more walks and more high-bouncy grounders.

[Vic Sage]

]"Last year, I didn't take a walk. This year, I will be more patient. I'm going to be aggressive and look for my pitch."

Interesting.
Reyes is going to be more patient by being more aggressive.
Lets see how that works out.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, that left me scrambling also.

[Willets Point]

Kind of Zen isn't it.

[Vic Sage]

i think he's going to "BE the ball"...

[Guest abogdan]

Na na na na

[Centerfield]

For what it's worth, sometimes when Reyes was up there last year, it looked like he was displaying that very contradiction, taking pitches right down the middle, then swinging wildly at everything else.

[Frayed Knot]

That's because he often seems to decide ahead of time whether or not he's going to swing at a pitch.

[Vic Sage]

he DID decide ahead of time... he decided when he was 12.

[metirish]

Rickey will even teach Franco a few tricks...cool article..

] Mets Get Master's in Art of the Steal By DAVID PICKER Published: March 26, 2006 PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., March 25 — With the powerful Florida sun overhead, two men walked slowly down the left-field line before a recent Mets game. The older man did all the talking. The younger man never moved his lips as he nodded. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image James A. Finley/Associated Press Rickey Henderson, left, is a special instructor for the Mets at spring training. José Reyes, right, is his prime pupil. Then, they stopped. The older man, Rickey Henderson, put his arm around the shoulders of the younger man, José Reyes. Twenty-five years separates them, and yet not even an envelope would have fit between their hips. With baseballs from batting practice whizzing past, they resumed their cerebral stroll through some of the game's finer points. On Tuesday, the Mets welcomed the 47-year-old Henderson as a special instructor for the final days of spring training. He is here primarily to work with young players like Reyes on the art of reaching base and stealing. Henderson is perhaps the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. During a 25-season career in the majors that ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, he stole 1,406 bases, a record. A spot at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., surely awaits him. Despite such lofty credentials, Henderson did not seem like an obvious candidate to join the coaching ranks. For starters, he aspires to play another season even though he has not fielded any offers since spending the 2005 season with the San Diego Surf Dawgs of the Golden Baseball League. And during his major league career, he battled the perception that he was a self-centered player who ran hard only when it suited him. But five days into his first coaching job, Henderson seems a natural. "When he talks, I listen and then I listen some more," said Reyes, the Mets' 22-year-old shortstop who led the National League with 60 stolen bases last season. "He tells me stuff that I didn't know," Reyes said. "And he's so funny. He explains things and makes everybody laugh." Before games, Henderson roams around the batting cage giving tips to players. He also meets with them in groups in the outfield. He recently told Reyes to stop trying to outrun the ball when stealing second base and start looking for hints in a pitcher's motion that reveal whether he will throw toward home plate. He also told Lastings Milledge, another rising star in the Mets' constellation, that a relaxed and fluid motion toward second base is the key to an explosive jump. Henderson seems aware that his playing career, in all likelihood, is over. But with each nugget of advice that he passes along, he seems to realize that a new career as a full-time coach, and perhaps one day as a manager, becomes more intriguing. "This is a first for me, getting the feet wet," Henderson said from the Mets' dugout, a pink wad of chewing gum wedged in his mouth. "I'm seeing if this is something I enjoy and want to do more. The organization has given me a great opportunity to see how I feel about it. And so far, it's been great." Even the veterans are beginning to jockey for time with Henderson. Carlos Beltran has scheduled a one-on-one session for next week, and Julio Franco, who is four months older than Henderson, is itching to do the same. But what could Henderson possibly teach Franco, who is preparing for his 29th professional season? "A lot," Franco said. "It's not about age, it's about knowledge. He's the best base stealer ever. I want to learn those things. Every year I steal five, six, seven bases. But if I can learn some points, yes. I want to be a manager so I can help others. And I think he's the best kind of brain to pick." The Mets' spring training complex is teeming with young players. But Reyes is the one student the team most wants to see around Henderson. Last season, Reyes played in 161 games but walked only 27 times. He is an exceptional base stealer, but he had a paltry .300 on-base percentage. Henderson had a .401 on-base percentage during his career in the majors. And in the few days that he has been at camp, he has studied Reyes's approach at the plate from behind dark sunglasses, unearthing a flaw. "As a leadoff hitter, he puts the bat on the ball well and he makes great contact, but he's not patient," Henderson said. "He doesn't know how to take two strikes and hit. See, that's how I always played. I'd give you two strikes and hit. I'm not afraid. I think that's what he's got to feel." Henderson then turned his attention to the entire league and spoke with the critical voice of a law-school professor. "I think the guys aren't challenging the catchers as much today and putting pressure on teams and filling up the basepaths," he said. "It's so much into guys hitting home runs. You're getting all these power home runs, and it's eliminating the little guys from doing the running because they don't want to take the power out of the game." This type of honesty and insight is why the Mets brought Henderson to camp. "And it's why I'll be back for a few weeks in June, too," Henderson said. "Doing the same things. Meeting with the guys. Telling them what I see. Doing a whole lot of talking." INSIDE PITCH

[Guest Edgy DC]

]"And it's why I'll be back for a few weeks in June, too."

Wow.

[Guest Bret Sabermetric]

]he has studied Reyes's approach at the plate from behind dark sunglasses, unearthing a flaw. "As a leadoff hitter, he puts the bat on the ball well and he makes great contact, but he's not patient," Henderson said

Stop the presses! Why hasn't anyone noticed this before?

[Theoldmole]

I'm less concerned about what Rickey says to the press than what he says to Jose. I'm down as being in the minority who believes that Rickey can be a good coach.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Rickey watch.