Pete Rose, Alex Rodriguez and Frank Thomas share exclusive hitting secrets | MLB Coverage FOX Sports — Transcript

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1. 0:00that's where I used to choke up to right
2. 0:02there what size bat 34 33 never less
3. 0:06than 35 never more than 36 in really
4. 0:09what 35 35 you mean no I use 32 33 o 35
5. 0:15in uh one time I used a 36 S2 but I
6. 0:18choked up like this see let me tell you
7. 0:20why because when you get into a ww you
8. 0:23never Adit your in a slump don't ever
9. 0:25let a pitcher tell you you're in a slump
10. 0:27I would tell people do you do one of six
11. 0:29things when you get into it allw you
12. 0:30know what they are yeah okay no tell me
13. 0:32all right closer to the plate further
14. 0:36away from the plate up in the box back
15. 0:39in the Box choke up in the bat more
16. 0:41choke down in the bat more make it
17. 0:43heavier make it lighter never change
18. 0:45your swing your swing got you the big
19. 0:47legs you change your
20. 0:50positioning of in the batter's box curve
21. 0:53balls getting to you move up on it
22. 0:56you're not getting to it move up move
23. 0:57back on it they're jamming you move away
24. 1:00away from the plate because what they do
25. 1:02everybody charts every game that you
26. 1:04play nowadays and you're not going to go
27. 1:06over for 20 Frank and have 15 uh bats
28. 1:09where you're pulling a ball and five
29. 1:11where you're hitting over first base
30. 1:12you're going to develop a pattern and
31. 1:14you make your adjustments based on the
32. 1:16pattern that you developed over 28 bats
33. 1:18and if you're swinging and missing
34. 1:19you're pulling off hit the ball right
35. 1:21back up the middle you can't pull off
36. 1:23you hit the ball right back up the
37. 1:24middle how did people get you out how do
38. 1:25they pitch you when I first came up they
39. 1:27tried to knock the bat out of my hand
40. 1:29that's what you know sh when I was about
41. 1:31left-handed I was back here I wouldn't I
42. 1:34wouldn't over close to that plate the
43. 1:37only way you could Jam is if I swung the
44. 1:38ball that far inside but I went into
45. 1:40everything I used to think I could hit
46. 1:42the ball inside to right to left field
47. 1:44batting
48. 1:45left-handed better than I could the
49. 1:47other way cuz you get all your power
50. 1:49when you go like that all right I can
51. 1:51have the same swing that's going the
52. 1:53left field this is going to center field
53. 1:56this is pulling just a difference in
54. 1:58where my hands are same swing wow pretty
55. 2:02simple Pete that's church that's why you
56. 2:04got 4,200 hits well that's good stuff
57. 2:06buddy that is really good stuff I really
58. 2:07like the back in the box for in the Box
59. 2:11up in the Box never thought of it like
60. 2:12that what was the pits that gave you the
61. 2:14most
62. 2:16trouble well fortunately I didn't see
63. 2:18many of screw ball screw ball yeah how
64. 2:21about you Frank because the screw ball
65. 2:22works against being a switch batter yeah
66. 2:24right right right we don't get too many
67. 2:26of those right on right no what was the
68. 2:28pitch that you said gave you a night Mar
69. 2:30I would say the best pitch in baseball
70. 2:32is a slider hard slider hard slider from
71. 2:34a righty with tight tight rotation right
72. 2:36from righty right on right tight rot
73. 2:37that one for me because it's always
74. 2:38coming into me right exactly that's a
75. 2:41big it's a big advantage to being be a
76. 2:42switch batter if you can hit from both
77. 2:43sides unbelievable yeah it is it is for
78. 2:46me it was a split finger CU I I just
79. 2:48looked like a fast ball that's tough too
80. 2:50um well we didn't have split fingers
81. 2:51when I play they called Fork balls Fork
82. 2:53balls same thing you can always tell if
83. 2:55a guys's throwing a lot of fork balls
84. 2:56you know how the catcher is missing a
85. 2:57lot of balls exactly because they bounce
86. 2:59them one pitch that would have that you
87. 3:01would have hated is this new cutter I
88. 3:03mean it's really changed the game yeah
89. 3:05Pete could you I agree with that when I
90. 3:06first huh the eus pitch no one threw
91. 3:09that no one threw it not except uh Bill
92. 3:12Lee he threw one the Tony president over
93. 3:14the Jimmy fund what about Gord spitballs
94. 3:17oh okay spitballs but he threw them
95. 3:18every pitch I actually hit this s I
96. 3:21hit off gate one time I hit a ball right
97. 3:23there like that and I saw the spitfly
98. 3:25off the
99. 3:26bat I swear to God I did wow I got five
100. 3:29for five that game that was that was I
101. 3:31swear to God Frank I would like that and
102. 3:33he had so that thing was so loaded I
103. 3:35sold a spit go off the ball Pete two
104. 3:37questions two questions that's the truth
105. 3:40were you a better hitter which one were
106. 3:42your better hitter and number two which
107. 3:44one did you have more
108. 3:45power um well I never met a switch
109. 3:48batter before in my life that was a
110. 3:50natural left-hand hitter um I was a
111. 3:53better hitter left-handed 307 and 294
112. 3:57right-handed but because you're natural
113. 3:59right handed you have more power
114. 4:00right-handed yes most switchers is not
115. 4:03all mantle Murray all those guys they
116. 4:06have more power right-handed but you get
117. 4:07more hits left-handed because like I
118. 4:09told you before I got 3,000 hits
119. 4:11left-handed Advantage because you bat
120. 4:1465% of the time if you was ask everybody
121. 4:16in this room if you're if your
122. 4:17left-handed raise your hand one guy see
123. 4:21that's the way it is in pitching there's
124. 4:22just no you have more more right-handers
125. 4:25than you do left-handers in this world
126. 4:27Pete did you ever feel this is the weird
127. 4:28thing because I mean I play with some
128. 4:29great switch hitter sck Shar being one
129. 4:31of them yeah and I marveled at having to
130. 4:33take care of two swings Frank we had one
131. 4:35that was hard enough did you ever feel
132. 4:37like one side you were in a slump and
133. 4:38then you were on fire on the other side
134. 4:40no no not at all you know what I used to
135. 4:41do every day I usly don't do anymore I
136. 4:44played pepper every day with the bad boy
137. 4:46I love that but I couldn't play pepper
138. 4:48left-handed I couldn't hit Fungo
139. 4:50left-handed I was a great Fungo hitter
140. 4:52right-handed wow cuz this is my strong
141. 4:54hand throwing the ball up not this not
142. 4:57this every day I played Pepper with
143. 4:59three guys
144. 5:00did you like double headers or did you
145. 5:01hate them love them why well because I I
146. 5:04didn't get
147. 5:06tired and I used to love hot days
148. 5:09anything that's anything that's bad for
149. 5:11a pitcher I liked okay like cold you
150. 5:14know it's cold you don't want to play
151. 5:16but he can't get loose okay hot he's
152. 5:17sweating he's going to get tired in the
153. 5:19fifth inning okay Pete on a 7 o'clock
154. 5:21game what time were you at the stadium
155. 5:23the older you got there or ear you got
156. 5:24there I didn't answer my question what
157. 5:26time did you get there 3: 3:30 okay
158. 5:28that's not too bad but back then you
159. 5:29guys didn't have a lot of batting cages
160. 5:31and all that stuff how'd you warm up we
161. 5:32well we had batting cages at Riverfront
162. 5:34Stadium uh well first of all we had to
163. 5:36take infield practice Sparky used to say
164. 5:39if you can't take infield you're not
165. 5:40playing because there must be something
166. 5:42wrong with you wow I remember a probably
167. 5:45a good friend of yours the greatest one
168. 5:46of the greatest baseball men I've ever
169. 5:48met my life Don Zimmer okay he was on my
170. 5:50radio show two days after he quit in
171. 5:54Colorado and Don Baylor was the manager
172. 5:57and I asked him I said ZIP it's not
173. 6:00it's not normal for you to quit baseball
174. 6:01he said let me tell you something he
175. 6:02said I told my wife when it's not fun
176. 6:05for me to go to the ballpark when I go
177. 6:07out to hit infield and my third base's
178. 6:10in watching TV and I got a pitcher
179. 6:11taking infield a third and I got another
180. 6:13pitchure taking infield to short that
181. 6:15was enough for me I had to get out of
182. 6:17there no more fun okay that's why he
183. 6:18quit all right enough of this it's time
184. 6:20to go eat