Hatteberg fits book’s definition
Friday, April 28, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</IMG> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit width=200>CINNCINNATI REDS PHOTO </TD></TR><TR><TD class=cutline width=200>A chapter in the book Moneyball focuses on Reds first baseman Scott Hatteberg, whom Athletics general manager Billy Beane praised for his ability to get on base. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
CINCINNATI — The book Moneyball dropped onto the baseball world in spring 2003 with the kind of kersplat an elephant might create if an elephant ever took up skydiving.
Michael Lewis, the author, questioned the traditional methods that major-league teams use to uncover young talent, and did so through the eyes of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane.
Beane deemed statistics, especially those produced by college players, and statistical analysis by numbers-crunchers as more valuable to cobbling together his team than the on-the-ground work of oldschool scouts.
Many in the baseball establishment reacted as if a dentist’s drill had touched an exposed nerve. The resulting "Ouch! " still resonates around the game.
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Scott Hatteberg has a good reason to remember when the book came out because Chapter 8 ("Scott Hatteberg, Pickin’ Machine") details how he resurrected his career in Oakland. Hatteberg also recalls the pained reaction.
"I understand that baseball is steeped in a lot of tradition," he said. "(The book) was kind of new-age thinking in the way the Oakland A’s approached it. Statistics were a huge part of it.
"It just flew in the face of all that was sacred in baseball. This was just pioneering and new, and I don’t think a lot of people wanted to grab on to it."
Hatteberg shrugged about something he can’t change. His chapter begins with his injuryforced conversion from catcher with the Boston Red Sox to first baseman after he signed with Oakland.
"It’s my story," he said. "There’s no fabrication. As far as the personal experiences, it’s pretty right on."
He fielded hundreds of grounders hit by his wife as his children played in a sandbox. He worked for hours in the Arizona heat with Oakland coach Ron Washington, learning to be a first baseman. For readers, the images offer a brief intermission to the old-school/ new-age conflict within the book.
Hatteberg was the resolute turtle crossing the road in The Grapes of Wrath.
But the singleminded turtle had a purpose for Steinbeck, just as Hatteberg had reason to be important to Lewis. As the chapter continues, Hatteberg becomes the example of the importance that a growing number of people place on on-base percentage instead of batting average.
"I got (to Oakland) because of however I fit into the statistical analysis," he said. "I’m grateful for it.
"I can’t say whether or not that’s the new thinking. I know a lot of people are leaning toward certain statistics. Maybe certain stats are overblown and some are undervalued. I think that was part of the book that I agree with."
His ability to reach first base was why new Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky had an eye on the free-agent Hatteberg.
"I had a list of guys that were still free agents before I got the job, in case I got it, who I was going to be calling," said Krivsky, who says he has not read Moneyball. "He was right at the top of the list, particularly with Sean Casey gone and not knowing for sure how Adam Dunn would make the transition from left field to first base.
"I just felt he was a professional player and a professional hitter who would be good on the team, whether he was playing every day or not. How he goes about his business, how he takes his at-bats, how he has worked on his defense to make himself a good first baseman have made him a good guy to have on a ballclub."
Hatteberg’s hitting approach fit into what the free-swinging — and strikeout-prone — Reds needed. When Hatteberg swings, he makes contact more often than not.
"Just look at his walks-tostrikeouts (ratio) over his career," Krivsky said. "It’s impressive. If you see a guy nowadays who walks more than he strikes out, it’s a rarity. That’s a good indication to me that the guy takes good at-bats and knows the strike zone
" I don’t know who taught him, but somebody had an influence on him when he was young that that’s how you should go about hitting. Go up and see some pitches — that’s how I was taught. I read the Ted Williams book (The Science of Hitting) 100 times as a kid. Ted Williams rarely hit the first pitch.
He wanted to see all the pitches that he could. That would help him in a later atbat."
On April 19, the left-handedhitting Hatteberg had a surprise start against Florida Marlins left-hander Dontrelle Willis. A career American Leaguer, he had never batted against Willis, whose delivery is among the funkiest in the game.
Hatteberg promptly walked and singled in his first two atbats. His third time up, he lined back to the mound and Willis somehow caught the ball. The turtle crossed the road again the only way he knew how.
"I don’t know if anybody taught me," Hatteberg said. "I just knew what (pitch) I wanted, and I was able to wait for it.
"I’m always amazed that guys can go up and hit the first pitch, and hit it good. I’m not that guy. I’ve got to plan my first-pitch swings. I know what I want, and I’m going to wait for it."
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