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Thrift promotes upcoming hitting seminar Date published: 1/15/2006
By KURT NICOLL The next .400 hitter is out there waiting to be discovered--perhaps during next weekend's instructional hitting seminar at the Virginia Sports Complex in Ruther Glen. With more than 50 years of professional baseball under his belt, Syd Thrift realizes undiscovered baseball talent might show up in the most unlikely of places, like when he found the undrafted Bobby Bonilla during a 1981 trip to the Scandinavian countries. He wasted little time signing the power-hitting infielder to a minor-league contract for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Thrift was in Fredericksburg last week to promote the Jan. 21st seminar (from noon to 4 p.m.) and touch base with several high school and college coaches in the area. "One of the things we emphasize is pregame preparation, both mental and physical," said the baseball consultant, who once served in top executive positions with six different major league teams, including the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles. "Knowledge is a powerful thing so we have broken it down in simplistic terms," he added in explaining his cerebral approach to enhancing a player's skills. "It was like with [Orioles' pitcher] John Maine the other day, we talked about 'What is your job in baseball as a pitcher?' "I guarantee I could talk to 10 pitchers and 10 pitching coaches and none of them would give you the right answer. "The answer is simple: Your job is to throw the ball the ball to the small target. The finer the focus, takes you out of your body and your brain becomes in a state of euphoria. Anyone who has played any baseball has experienced it," he concluded. Some might view Thrift's approach more of a Zen master than a baseball guru, but his converts are many. The Sporting News--often referred to as the bible of baseball--once described him as "one of the best teachers in baseball." Thift traced many of his baseball techniques while helping organize and directing the Kansas City Royals' baseball academy in the late 1960s. "The baseball academy was the greatest thing to ever happen to me," said Thrift, who is a co-host of two-hour baseball talk show on Radio America that airs Sunday. "The more I learn, the more I say to myself, 'Oh boy, not yet.' There is always things to learn."
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