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It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

metirish Mar 01 2010 08:26 AM

From John Harper today, kind of a lame attempt here to blame Tony B for the Mets lack of power hitting last season. It seems to me though that Hojo was on aboard with this. New York Mets scrap Tony Bernazard's opposite-field approach PORT ST. LUCIE - Tony Bernazard is long gone as a Mets' executive, rather famously fired last summer for bad behavior, but the legend of his notorious influence on all phases of the organization continues to grow. It turns out that Bernazard even dictated the extreme opposite-field hitting philosophy the Mets adopted last season, which may have contributed to their stunningly low home run total. Hitting coach Howard Johnson, who has now changed the philosophy to try and make the Mets more of a power-hitting ballclub again, Sunday confirmed what I'd been told by sources in the organization. "Yes," said HoJo on the question of Bernazard setting the hitting philosophy. "That was a big thing in our organization. It was a big part of the organization's philosophy, starting in the minor leagues." Sources say Bernazard, who oversaw minor-league development, was so insistent on players hitting the ball to the opposite field that minor leaguers were scolded for pulling the ball, sometimes even when they got a hit. Going into spring training last year, after the Mets had a poor 2008 season as situational hitters, especially with runners in scoring position, Bernazard convinced others in the organization to adopt the opposite-field approach at the major-league level as well. The intentions were good but the methods were extreme. In spring training players took 80 swings a day against curve balls from a pitching machine, hitting the ball the other way. The drills, which continued at a modified number during the season, were emphasized to the point that players eventually thought they were silly, and perhaps even detrimental. Jeff Francouer, who arrived via trade at midseason at about the same time Bernazard was fired, remembers wondering what the heck was going on when he found himself taking so many batting practice swings trying to hit the ball to right field. "At one point," Francouer recalled, "I remember Jerry (Manuel) telling me, 'Wait until we get to spring training and you're hitting 80 balls (a day) the other way.' "And I'm thinking, 'Jeez, in that case I might not report until about March 2.'" Fortunately for him, it didn't come to that. HoJo, the one-time power-hitting third baseman for the Mets, became convinced the opposite-field emphasis was being overdone to the point of adversely affecting hitters, in particular David Wright. "We did improve in some areas as we hoped," said HoJo, "but we didn't anticipate how it would affect some guys. I realized we had to make a change in our philosophy. "It would be like in football, and all you do is try to complete five-yard passes. You have to stretch the field at some point." In baseball too you have to go deep. The Mets' total of 95 home runs was by far the lowest in the majors, and while spacious Citi Field, plus widespread injuries, obviously contributed to the low total, Johnson began to talk to Manuel late in the season, after Bernazard was gone, about the need to teach a more aggressive hitting style. "Jerry agreed," said HoJo. "We still want to maintain our discipline to go the other way in certain situations, but we also want to work on driving the ball and being a power threat again. We need to open it up to allow guys to drive the ball rather than forcing the ball the other way." Along with the volume of swings being reduced in camp, the curveball drill now calls for hitters to hit 10 balls to the opposite field, 10 in the middle area of the field, 10 pulled for power, and 10 line drives. Wright, who hit only 10 home runs last year, likes the new approach, and Francouer, a natural pull hitter, loves it. "For me I think it's perfect," Francouer said. "I need to work on going the other way because I get in trouble when I try to pull everything, but when I'm up there with a 2-0 count, I'm trying to turn on the ball and hit a home run, I'm not trying to hit the ball to right field. "After the way we lacked power as a team last year, you look back and say maybe our approach was off, and I think that starts here in spring training. I think we've just got a better idea of what we're doing now." Likewise, for yet another reason it seems the Mets are better off without what was Bernazard's rather amazing influence.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 01 2010 08:45 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

I don't know what to make of this. Was HoJo on board? Or was he following orders? I'd love to think that this is the reason that the Mets offense was so short on power last year, and that now the problem is solved. But I won't be convinced until I see a real difference, and that will take at least a few months.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 01 2010 08:53 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

I'm skeptical of just about everything in that article: That Bernazard forced the drill; that the drill had anything to do with the team's performance; that this year's drills will/would have changed anything; that practicing opposite field hitting is necessarily bad, and so forth. I don't doubt that Tony had influence in the organization; I just think that now that he's gone there's a lot of scapegoat-y stuff they'll pin on him.

themetfairy Mar 01 2010 08:57 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

Was he teaching them Street Batting?

metirish Mar 01 2010 09:00 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

I'm skeptical too of the whole thing. I remember much giddiness about the whole 80 balls hit the other way drill when it was started last season. It might have even been seen as another Jerry the innovator type thing that separated him from Willy.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 01 2010 09:40 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="themetfairy":30mbjzyr]Was he teaching them Street Batting?[/quote:30mbjzyr] Except in this context, the problem was not being "offensive" enough.

Ceetar Mar 01 2010 10:42 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="metirish":30csuyd7]I'm skeptical too of the whole thing. I remember much giddiness about the whole 80 balls hit the other way drill when it was started last season. It might have even been seen as another Jerry the innovator type thing that separated him from Willy.[/quote:30csuyd7] Oh, it was. But people were also saying that they'd never heard of such a thing before. I think they just enjoyed writing about something new. I grew real skeptical of that drill by midseason (when they were still doing it to a lesser extent) and was trying to figure out if looking for singles the opposite way was preventing them from looking for more. The results would suggest it did, as the team was way too station to station even when they weren't the Bisons. I don't know if the drill itself was the issue, or if it was just done too extremely (i.e. 80 pitches) or if it was the general mentality behind the drill, or that Manuel/HoJo focused on the drill to the extent that they ignored other important parts of hitting.

themetfairy Mar 01 2010 10:46 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":27qmhd1y][quote="themetfairy":27qmhd1y]Was he teaching them Street Batting?[/quote:27qmhd1y] Except in this context, the problem was not being "offensive" enough.[/quote:27qmhd1y] How out of character for him.

metsguyinmichigan Mar 01 2010 11:11 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

Bernazard, shirtless of course, at a management meeting: "We need to make the new ballpark look like Ebbets Field. I have a neat idea for a sleeve patch, too."

Centerfield Mar 02 2010 07:11 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="themetfairy":1e2c0q7t]Was he teaching them Street Batting?[/quote:1e2c0q7t] Nominated.

Centerfield Mar 02 2010 07:11 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="metsguyinmichigan":1sa3bgv3]Bernazard, shirtless of course, at a management meeting: "We need to make the new ballpark look like Ebbets Field. I have a neat idea for a sleeve patch, too."[/quote:1sa3bgv3] This one too.

Edgy DC Mar 02 2010 07:28 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

The problem is that they are looking for new reasons and old scapegoats for the power outage and don't mention the rash of injuries until paragraph 14, which leaves this whole argument to center around David Wright. Did anybody expect Daniel Murphy to hit more homers than he did? If anything, he didn't go the other way as much as I would have hoped. Luis Castillo's one homer was nothing extraordinary. Alex Cora could have connected a few times, but we know he was hurt. Sheffield powered up about as often as expected. Francoeur did better than expected. Pagan went deep at a pretty typical rate. I guess I could have asked for some pop out of Jeremy Reed, but I don't know. Schneider fell off but I certainly didn't expect him to do anything but get worse. Church didn't get any better when liberated from the Mets approach in Atlanta and his power outage goes back to his concussion in 2008. Maybe Tatis adds to the case, but I still think it's overstated.

Frayed Knot Mar 02 2010 07:40 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

One reason for finding scapegoats to the power outage is that it saves fans/media from admitting that Delgado's absence was a HUGE part of it and, for whatever reason(s), they'd much rather throw him into the 'they're better off without him' pile.

Valadius Mar 02 2010 07:57 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

Castillo's homer was extraordinary, because I was there to see it.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 02 2010 08:09 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

The world really does revolve around you, doesn't it?

MFS62 Mar 02 2010 08:19 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="Frayed Knot":1s7aant0]One reason for finding scapegoats to the power outage is that it saves fans/media from admitting that Delgado's absence was a HUGE part of it and, for whatever reason(s), they'd much rather throw him into the 'they're better off without him' pile.[/quote:1s7aant0] Thank you. You wrote what I had been thinking about for a while. The team was not better off without him after his injury last year. This year? Can't say. But he didn't seem to be slowing down before that injury. Later

Frayed Knot Mar 02 2010 08:39 AM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

And I'm not trying to argue that we should be hanging onto Delgado for the future. At this point he makes no sense at all and a argument can be made (and was here by some) that he was kept one year too long. But I'm just stunned to the degree that the ghost of Delgado past is being painted as having been an anchor on this team all along. Yeah, there was that real bad stretch in his 2nd year but, even with that factored in, 100 HRs & 200 XBHs over a 3-season span are nothing to sneeze at - especially with great playoffs thrown in.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 03 2010 01:20 PM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="Daily News letters page"] Went the other way Middle Village: John Harper's column "New pull for Mets: Scrap Tony's opposite-field approach" (March 1) helps us to understand the downfall of the Mets in 2009. Then-Vice President Tony Bernazard obsessively forced the team last year to become opposite-field hitters, which was unnatural and disastrous. Nevertheless, ultimate responsibility rests with Jeff Wilpon. Sheldon C. Seller

No slap at Jeff is ever too gratuitous, apparently.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 03 2010 01:57 PM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="Benjamin Grimm"][quote="Daily News letters page"] Went the other way Middle Village: John Harper's column "New pull for Mets: Scrap Tony's opposite-field approach" (March 1) helps us to understand the downfall of the Mets in 2009. Then-Vice President Tony Bernazard obsessively forced the team last year to become opposite-field hitters, which was unnatural and disastrous. Nevertheless, ultimate responsibility rests with Jeff Wilpon. Sheldon C. Seller

No slap at Jeff is ever too gratuitous, apparently.

I think his PR problems really started once he dressed up like Tom Glavine and tried to pitch Game 162 in 2007.

Benjamin Grimm Mar 03 2010 01:58 PM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

Yeah. But what gave him away was that he couldn't squeeze his hair into a baseball cap.

metirish Mar 03 2010 02:04 PM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

[quote="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah. But what gave him away was that he couldn't squeeze his hair into a baseball cap.

Jeff then tried to get away with wearing this to the mound.

A Boy Named Seo Mar 03 2010 02:58 PM Re: It's all Tony Bernazard's Fault.

Hardball Times did a piece on David Wright and hitting to right field yesterday. Pretty good stuff in here. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/fanta ... id-wright/ Quick and dirty highlights: -Mets as a team went from 5th lowest in opp field hits in '08 (17.7%) to first in MLB in '09 (22.75%) -Wright personally went from 17.7% opp field hits in '08, to 26% in '09 (though his avg from '05-'07 was right around 22%) -Wright's opp field flyball pct went from 27% in '08 to 45.9% in '09.