Joey Gallo leaned on famous Ted Williams’ book on hitting to improve his art
%20(1).JPG "Joey Gallo, who has turned down a chance at competing in the Home Run Derby the past two seasons, is intrigued by the winner earning $1 million in 2019.")
Ted Williams called hitting a science. Tony Gwynn called it an art.
Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo owns a copy of Williams’ 1979 book “The Science of Hitting” but leans more towards calling it an art.
“It’s both, I guess,” Gallo said. “It’s more of a craft. It’s crazy to talk about. People thinking you’re up there swinging and whatever happens happens but there’s a lot that goes into it. I would say it’s more of an art but I can see why it would be both.”
Gallo read the book during a tough stretch in the minor leagues. What stuck with him the most was Williams’ philosophies on the mental aspect of hitting.
“The mental part of it, to me, that’s what’s so important. When I was struggling, it’s usually not always my swing. It’s more my mentality,” he said. “I would go and read things about thought process and positive thinking and stuff like that will help you out a lot if you can implement those things.”
Your swing is your swing, Gallo said. You can make adjustments, but “mentality and confidence and having that approach every day is, to me, what’s most important.”
All of the metrics and data culled from a batter’s season at the plate can often become scientific, but the act of hitting a baseball? That is an art, he said, whether he’s hitting a long home run or striking out.
“That’s good art,” Gallo said of homers. “My other art is not too great but … we work on getting better with more art like that. ”For us, it’s art because we’re the artist.”
Whatever you want to call it, hitting is a lot more complex than most people assume, Gallo said.
“It’s more complicated than kind of swinging a wooden bat,” he said. “Most guys have a lot of books. There’s a lot of books [about hitting].”
