Hitting with Harv

Published on: April 3, 2025

See First

If you can't see it, you can't hit it. Close your eyes and hop in the batter's box and tell me how that works out for you. I believe we generally always see the ball, how well is the question. Do you train your eyes? If you don't I suggest that you do. There are many ways, you can even use visualization to help train your eyes. Tee work, side toss, front toss, batting practice are all opportunities to help you see. If you don't focus on seeing well in the cage you won't see well games.

Part of how I try to teach the vision part is by having my hitters let their eyes tell them when to swing. Sometimes they are still early or late but they usually end up telling me their adjustments before I tell them. The other thing that happens when you focus on seeing the ball well is build the oneness between the eyes and hands. I view the hands and eyes as one unit. They work well together if you let them. Like I said before, close your eyes and hop in the batter's box and you have no chance.

In the end we can swing at we see or keep guessing and thinking. It's ok to think but reserve the thinking for stepping in and out of the batter's box. Once you step into the box, see first and the rest will take care of itself. When it comes to hitting its better to see or than anticipate. Anticipation can bring success as well but have to be careful how you anticipate. I'll talk about anticipation in a couple weeks.

Published on: November 4, 2024

Seattle Mariners Year 1, Everett Washington 1997

Short season A ball where most college players are sent for their first season. High school and Junior College players would usually be assigned to rookie ball at the team's training facilities. Everett was about 30 minutes away from Seattle and it looked like it was going to rain almost every day.

Our longest bus trip was thirteen (13) hours to Boise Idaho to play the Angels affiliate. I found out this year that one of my least favorite pitchers to face was Scot Shields. He had a nasty 2 seam/slider combo. He teamed up with Francisco Rodriguez a couple years later and I faced them both in A-ball during California League play.

I remember being tired from my record setting year at Sacramento State where I set the single season (26) and career (35) record for homeruns. I finished that season in Everett .271 4 34, and I also had 5 triples and 21 doubles. Seattle named me as the best hitting prospect of the '97 draft class in Baseball America. They liked the gap to gap power and my approach and wanted to see more homeruns.

I lead my team (Wisconsin Timber-rattlers) the next season with 15 home runs in Appleton Wisconsin when I made the change from the infield to the outfield. By far one of my favorite seasons playing baseball was in 1998 for the T-Rats

About me

Baseball was my favorite thing to do since I was 12 years old when I started playing it. Aside from a season of T-Ball at 8 years old, my version of baseball was my brother and I pitching a tennis or racquetball to each other to see how far we could hit it. When my then eleven (11) year old brother Casey and I went out for tryouts when we moved to Germany in 1988 it was clear hitting tennis and racquetballs paid off. My first and only year on the little field for Majors at 12 I hit 16 homeruns, the most they had seen in a season. The next season my brother hit 17!

I had a successful youth, high school, college and professional career. My career was highlighted by playing in two European Tournaments, (the second one gave us a berth to the Senior Little League World Series when I was fifteen {15}), All League and City honors in high school at Cordova High where I was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 2012. I left Sac State with the career and single season home run record in 1997. The career mark of 35 was broken last year, the single season record of 26 still remains. I was inducted into the baseball hall of fame at Sac State in 2009. In my time with the Mariners organization, I was named to the Upper Deck Top 100 as a Top Prospect during my 1999-2000 season with the California League Lancaster Jethawks and I was also a member of two (2) teams that won Fall League Championships.

My favorite place to be was in the cage or in the mind of one of my teammates or coaches trying to get as close as we could to being able to put together a consistent swings. A major focus was always having a mental and physical approach to hitting with a focus on preparation. One of the best things about the game of baseball is you always get another opportunity. An O for 3 can be erased late in the game after making an adjustment. Each at bat is a new opportunity. I didn't care about outs as much as others did. I knew it was part of the game and I also knew I was coming back again when my spot in the lineup came up and things would be different.

Current hitting and outfield coach at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California. I work with our hitters, infielders and outfielders on both the mental and physical side of the game. I use the methods of success I had on the field to help baseball and softball players grow and develop.