GaryMrMets
02-19-2002, 01:11 AM
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/chc/news/chc_news_story.jsp?article_id=chc_20020218_hundley _news&team_id=chc
News
2/18/2002 6:00 pm ET
Hundley puts nightmare season behind him
Cubs like what they 've seen of catcher this spring
By Carrie Muskat
MLB.com
MESA, Ariz. -- If he could, Todd Hundley would wipe the 2001 season off the books. Delete it. Gone. Just call it a mulligan.
"There were just a lot of things," Hundley said on Monday, reflecting on his first season with the Chicago Cubs. "Being home, getting adjusted to Wrigley Field and getting adjusted to home and the day games and so on and so forth, it was a lot of things. It took me two years to get adjusted to New York and it took me a year to get adjusted to Los Angeles."
There were injuries. Part-time player status. Batting .180. Even day games, although his father, Randy Hundley, a former Cubs catcher who caught more than 1,000 games with the team, tried to warn him.
"He's like, 'Man, I'm telling you, day games are tough,'" said the 32-year-old Hundley, sitting at a picnic table after a workout, nursing a cup of coffee. "I said, '[Bull]. I'll be fine.'"
But he wasn't.
"When you go in there as a visiting team, you're basically unconscious for three days and then you're gone," Hundley said. "But the day in and day out of day games there, you definitely have to get used to it."
He finished with a dismal .187 average and 12 homers in 79 games after hitting 24 in each of his two previous seasons with the Dodgers. Back problems sidelined him June 19-July 26. He hit .176 in the final month. And he was booed.
Hundley not only had the family ties with the Cubs to live up to but also a four-year, $24 million contract. Who had a tougher time last season, the father, a legend at Wrigley Field, or the son?
"Me," Todd Hundley said. "Me by far. My dad would get angry at the media. He's just not used to it. But I'd tell him, 'Dad, I deserve to be ripped in the paper. I'm not getting it done.' From a father's perspective, he was getting really frustrated."
When Hundley came to Chicago as a visiting player with either the New York Mets or the Dodgers, he would get a coaching clinic from his father.
"We'd go and throw and work on footwork at least one day and get me back on track," Todd Hundley said. "Last year, it was kind of like I didn't want to hear it. I don't want to think about baseball.
"It was tough going to the ballpark," he said. "If you don't like going to your job, it's a tough day. And not knowing if you're going to play that day and all the uncertainties of that, I've never had to deal with that.
"There were some days I'd come in last year and say, 'Who's pitching for them? Who are we playing? I'm in the lineup, holy God.' It was a big adjustment."
Hundley made an adjustment this winter. He hooked up with a nutritionist and training staff based on a recommendation from James "Big Cat" Williams, an offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears' NFL team. Williams told Hundley that he believed so much in what the staff had done for him, he was taking them to the Pro Bowl if he made it. Williams and Co. just got back from Hawaii.
"These four, five guys who work you out just crush you," Hundley said. "It's all about the little stuff, walking on balance beams and [abdominals] and hamstrings and shoulders. It helps so much. I was working out with them all winter and then when I hooked up with [the nutritionist], he told me what to eat -- and more what not to eat.
"Then I started doing it and felt better and had more energy and I was losing the weight, got a lot lighter, lot quicker, so I stuck with it."
After his session with the trainers, Hundley would go see a physical therapist and do his back exercises. Then he'd go over to a batting cage and hit.
"Three workouts a day," Hundley said. "About five o'clock, I was just spent."
But he saw results.
"It got easier," he said.
Cubs Manager Don Baylor sees a different player.
"His entire demeanor has changed," Baylor said of Hundley. "He has a determined look about him. It's good to put 2001 in the background. He knows he's not a .180 hitter. I know he's not a .180 hitter."
Baylor has already forgotten about last year.
"He got that one out of the way," Baylor said.
Hundley admits he needs to concentrate more at the plate to avoid another .180 season.
"That's what I found about not playing every day is that your concentration just isn't there," Hundley said. "You feel like a fish out of water. Last year was the first time I had to play that role. It was really, really weird and really hard to concentrate."
What could he be thinking about?
"You get so locked in on yourself," Hundley said. "'Where's my shoulder? Where's my hand? Where's my front foot?' And the next thing you know the ball's by you. You're thinking about all the wrong things other than what this guy is going to throw you to get you out.
"The trick is not to think, you know," he said. "Get in there, see the ball, hit the ball."
Baseball is supposed to be a simple game.
"It's tough to get to that point," Hundley said. "It was hard when boom, you go and you get it right for one day and then you don't play for another three days. I've never had to do that before in my career."
Joe Girardi caught 71 games for the Cubs last year; Hundley 70. But Girardi had surgery on his left knee in October and Baylor is counting on Hundley being the regular guy this year.
"Joe is coming off surgery. He'll probably not catch as many innings," Baylor said. "I'd like to see Todd out there. He only had 240-something at-bats last year and he needs the at-bats."
This spring, he's getting reacquainted with the Cubs pitchers. Hundley's goal is to do what they want and make them comfortable.
"You get some guys like Jason Bere," Hundley said of the Cubs' right-hander. "When he gets in a funk, his shoulder is falling to the first-base side of the mound. So I've got to look for those little things and remind him of that stuff -- if that's what they want. Some guys are like, 'I don't want to know anything about my mechanics. I don't want to think about them.'"
Pitchers can be a little quirky. OK, so what about Cubs right-hander Kerry Wood?
"I love catching 'Woody,'" Hundley said. "He's a lot like Doc Gooden where he's got that pride. He doesn't want to hear much about mechanics. He doesn't like you to come out to the mound that much. He wants you to be back there, call the pitches and he lets it fly. That's fun for me.
"Last year, sometimes I'd go out to the mound and talk to him," Hundley said, "and he'd be like, 'Man, I think I'm leading the league in visits to the mound.' And I'd say, 'Ok, Woody, I'm sorry, I'll be back over here.'
"And sometimes he'll look tired and I'll go out there and say, 'Ok, Woody, you need a rest?' 'No, not really.' 'OK, I'll be over here. Sorry.' That's the way Doc was. Doc didn't want you to come out and talk to him. Doc didn't want to hear anything about mechanics. Just put the fingers down and catch it. That's the way 'Woody' is. I like that."
The Cubs like what they've seen so far of Hundley. He's seen positive results from his offseason sessions. Now, he's got something to prove.
"I want to prove to these guys that last year was a real funk," Hundley said. "There are guys who go through that every year. My main priority is to prove to my teammates that last year was just one of those years."
Carrie Muskat covers the Cubs for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/photo/ph_news_hundley_01_000000.jpg
Todd Hundley finished 2001 with a dismal .187 average and 12 homers in 79 games after hitting 24 in each of his two previous seasons with the Dodgers.
News
2/18/2002 6:00 pm ET
Hundley puts nightmare season behind him
Cubs like what they 've seen of catcher this spring
By Carrie Muskat
MLB.com
MESA, Ariz. -- If he could, Todd Hundley would wipe the 2001 season off the books. Delete it. Gone. Just call it a mulligan.
"There were just a lot of things," Hundley said on Monday, reflecting on his first season with the Chicago Cubs. "Being home, getting adjusted to Wrigley Field and getting adjusted to home and the day games and so on and so forth, it was a lot of things. It took me two years to get adjusted to New York and it took me a year to get adjusted to Los Angeles."
There were injuries. Part-time player status. Batting .180. Even day games, although his father, Randy Hundley, a former Cubs catcher who caught more than 1,000 games with the team, tried to warn him.
"He's like, 'Man, I'm telling you, day games are tough,'" said the 32-year-old Hundley, sitting at a picnic table after a workout, nursing a cup of coffee. "I said, '[Bull]. I'll be fine.'"
But he wasn't.
"When you go in there as a visiting team, you're basically unconscious for three days and then you're gone," Hundley said. "But the day in and day out of day games there, you definitely have to get used to it."
He finished with a dismal .187 average and 12 homers in 79 games after hitting 24 in each of his two previous seasons with the Dodgers. Back problems sidelined him June 19-July 26. He hit .176 in the final month. And he was booed.
Hundley not only had the family ties with the Cubs to live up to but also a four-year, $24 million contract. Who had a tougher time last season, the father, a legend at Wrigley Field, or the son?
"Me," Todd Hundley said. "Me by far. My dad would get angry at the media. He's just not used to it. But I'd tell him, 'Dad, I deserve to be ripped in the paper. I'm not getting it done.' From a father's perspective, he was getting really frustrated."
When Hundley came to Chicago as a visiting player with either the New York Mets or the Dodgers, he would get a coaching clinic from his father.
"We'd go and throw and work on footwork at least one day and get me back on track," Todd Hundley said. "Last year, it was kind of like I didn't want to hear it. I don't want to think about baseball.
"It was tough going to the ballpark," he said. "If you don't like going to your job, it's a tough day. And not knowing if you're going to play that day and all the uncertainties of that, I've never had to deal with that.
"There were some days I'd come in last year and say, 'Who's pitching for them? Who are we playing? I'm in the lineup, holy God.' It was a big adjustment."
Hundley made an adjustment this winter. He hooked up with a nutritionist and training staff based on a recommendation from James "Big Cat" Williams, an offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears' NFL team. Williams told Hundley that he believed so much in what the staff had done for him, he was taking them to the Pro Bowl if he made it. Williams and Co. just got back from Hawaii.
"These four, five guys who work you out just crush you," Hundley said. "It's all about the little stuff, walking on balance beams and [abdominals] and hamstrings and shoulders. It helps so much. I was working out with them all winter and then when I hooked up with [the nutritionist], he told me what to eat -- and more what not to eat.
"Then I started doing it and felt better and had more energy and I was losing the weight, got a lot lighter, lot quicker, so I stuck with it."
After his session with the trainers, Hundley would go see a physical therapist and do his back exercises. Then he'd go over to a batting cage and hit.
"Three workouts a day," Hundley said. "About five o'clock, I was just spent."
But he saw results.
"It got easier," he said.
Cubs Manager Don Baylor sees a different player.
"His entire demeanor has changed," Baylor said of Hundley. "He has a determined look about him. It's good to put 2001 in the background. He knows he's not a .180 hitter. I know he's not a .180 hitter."
Baylor has already forgotten about last year.
"He got that one out of the way," Baylor said.
Hundley admits he needs to concentrate more at the plate to avoid another .180 season.
"That's what I found about not playing every day is that your concentration just isn't there," Hundley said. "You feel like a fish out of water. Last year was the first time I had to play that role. It was really, really weird and really hard to concentrate."
What could he be thinking about?
"You get so locked in on yourself," Hundley said. "'Where's my shoulder? Where's my hand? Where's my front foot?' And the next thing you know the ball's by you. You're thinking about all the wrong things other than what this guy is going to throw you to get you out.
"The trick is not to think, you know," he said. "Get in there, see the ball, hit the ball."
Baseball is supposed to be a simple game.
"It's tough to get to that point," Hundley said. "It was hard when boom, you go and you get it right for one day and then you don't play for another three days. I've never had to do that before in my career."
Joe Girardi caught 71 games for the Cubs last year; Hundley 70. But Girardi had surgery on his left knee in October and Baylor is counting on Hundley being the regular guy this year.
"Joe is coming off surgery. He'll probably not catch as many innings," Baylor said. "I'd like to see Todd out there. He only had 240-something at-bats last year and he needs the at-bats."
This spring, he's getting reacquainted with the Cubs pitchers. Hundley's goal is to do what they want and make them comfortable.
"You get some guys like Jason Bere," Hundley said of the Cubs' right-hander. "When he gets in a funk, his shoulder is falling to the first-base side of the mound. So I've got to look for those little things and remind him of that stuff -- if that's what they want. Some guys are like, 'I don't want to know anything about my mechanics. I don't want to think about them.'"
Pitchers can be a little quirky. OK, so what about Cubs right-hander Kerry Wood?
"I love catching 'Woody,'" Hundley said. "He's a lot like Doc Gooden where he's got that pride. He doesn't want to hear much about mechanics. He doesn't like you to come out to the mound that much. He wants you to be back there, call the pitches and he lets it fly. That's fun for me.
"Last year, sometimes I'd go out to the mound and talk to him," Hundley said, "and he'd be like, 'Man, I think I'm leading the league in visits to the mound.' And I'd say, 'Ok, Woody, I'm sorry, I'll be back over here.'
"And sometimes he'll look tired and I'll go out there and say, 'Ok, Woody, you need a rest?' 'No, not really.' 'OK, I'll be over here. Sorry.' That's the way Doc was. Doc didn't want you to come out and talk to him. Doc didn't want to hear anything about mechanics. Just put the fingers down and catch it. That's the way 'Woody' is. I like that."
The Cubs like what they've seen so far of Hundley. He's seen positive results from his offseason sessions. Now, he's got something to prove.
"I want to prove to these guys that last year was a real funk," Hundley said. "There are guys who go through that every year. My main priority is to prove to my teammates that last year was just one of those years."
Carrie Muskat covers the Cubs for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/photo/ph_news_hundley_01_000000.jpg
Todd Hundley finished 2001 with a dismal .187 average and 12 homers in 79 games after hitting 24 in each of his two previous seasons with the Dodgers.