JJ Hardy Minnesota Twins (6/1/2002)

What would you say your baseball philosophy is?

To have fun. Go out every day and do my best and have fun while doing it.

How about hitting?  Do you have a hitting philosophy when you approach the plate or approach hitting?

Real simple one:  Just see the ball, hit the ball.  Try not to think too much.  Work on your swing in BP (batting practice) so you’re not really thinking about it in the game.

Where were you drafted, what round?

Second round.  56th pick overall.

When you’re hitting, do you have a zone you look for or a pitch you look for?

Yeah.  I like to watch the pitcher before I even get up there, see what he’s got, see what he likes to throw, when he likes to throw it. Kind of picture myself up to bat when other righties are hitting.  So say he likes to throw an 0-2 curve ball in the dirt or something, I like to know or have an idea of what he’s planning on throwing me.

So you study the pitchers when you’re in the dugout?

Right.

How about your strengths or weaknesses?  What’s your strength?

I would say defensive.  Defensively would be my strength.  They definitely picked me as a defensive kind of guy, and they were trying to work on my hitting more than anything.

What’s your weakness?  What are you working on right now?

Right now my hamstrings are really, really tight, and I haven’t been running very fast.  That would probably be my main weakness as of now.  But overall weakness would have to be hitting, and that’s what I need to most work on.

When you got drafted, did they kind of project where you’re going to be in the next few years, or where they want you to be?

No, I’ve heard a lot of good things, that they like me, want to move me up fast, but I’m not sure what exactly that means.

Did they tell you in High Desert (Single A Team) I want you to work on this or we want you to work on this?

Not necessarily.  They just kind of sent me to High Desert and told me if I don’t hit well, just play defense. That’s all they really were looking for and hitting would be a bonus.

Pitchers throw inside and outside to set up hitters. Do hitters set up pitchers?

It’s possible. One time I was talking to Steve Springer who’s played minor league baseball and had a couple of call ups to big leagues. He was telling me a story about Edgar Martinez when he’d get a fast ball or a curve ball or something and take a really big swing right on it and just be thinking that he’s not going to get that pitch again. It’s possible that you can set them up.

Do you do anything like that?

Not necessarily.  If I have a bad at bat, swinging at a curve ball in the dirt, I might be thinking that they know that I’ve been swinging at curve balls in the dirt, so I might have it in the back of my mind thinking I might see some more curve balls or something like that. I’m not necessarily going up there trying to set them up.

You do more studying what they’re doing and kind of pretty much have an idea of what they’re throwing.

Right, yeah, exactly.

What about the first pitch?  What do you think about hitting the first pitch or taking the first pitch?

If it’s there then I like to hit it. If it’s a good pitcher’s pitch then take it, then you’re just down 0-1, you still got two more strikes. If it’s there, then yeah, why not hit it.

When you’re in the field, do you read the catcher’s signs?

Yes.  Both of the infield instructors that I’ve had since I’ve been with the Brewers have wanted us to do that and I’m sure a lot of the other teams do it too.

So they’re really big on that then?

Yeah.  I mean it helps.  Some guys like even third basemen’s like the shortstop to relay the signs sometimes, like if it’s going to be an off-speed.  Maybe just say here you go or something like that.  So the third baseman knows it’s an off-speed and the ball could be coming over here.

It seems at times some guys with all the talent don’t seem to go as far as guys with lesser talent.

Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot. I think the main reason that they say that, when I do hear it, I mean coaches or guys that have played the game say that is because their head slumps or something like that.  They can’t get it out of their head and people that are more mentally focused make it higher than as if they just had the talent.

Do you look at your position at the major league level and AAA and AA and pay attention to those guys and see what they’re doing?

Not too much.  If I hear someone talking about it yeah, I’d like to know.  I don’t go on the Internet every night and see what they did or anything like that. I like to hear how everyone is doing in our organization.

Do you think the first round picks or the high draft picks like you, get more chances than the other guys?

That’s a tough question. I think so, in a way, just because of the money that they’ve put into us. I don’t think they’re going to put that much money into someone and then not give them an extra chance.  So I think, in a way, yes.

Do you think in the end, though, to make the major leagues you just have to be the best player?  Does it matter?

Yeah. I think that once you’re drafted, you’re all the same, other than the money. If someone is doing better than me at my position and they were drafted later, yes they’ll be moved up before me.

What’s the competition like for your roster spot, players trying to take your job and you try to take somebody else’s?

It’s good; there are a lot of good players in our organization. I think the only thing that I can really do, other than just thinking about it, is do my best. I can’t hope for them to do bad, I’ve got to hope to do better than them.

How much film do you watch?

I usually only watch film when I’m slumping. If I’m slumping pretty bad, my swing feels real bad, I’ll watch some of my swings that I took earlier in the year and kind of remember what it was like. Just see what my swing used to be like or feel like. So when I’m slumping I’ll take some time and watch the film.

How much does chemistry in the clubhouse affect the team?

I think good chemistry helps a lot, tremendously actually. If guys aren’t getting along then it’s tough to play together. You’ve got to have a lot of chemistry on the team to play good.

How about weightlifting?  How important is weightlifting?

It’s important these days everyone’s bigger and stronger. I remember just coming out of high school last year I was one of the bigger guys.  When I get to low rookie, I’m probably one of the smallest, one of the two or three smallest guys out there.  So it’s a big deal.  It’s a real big deal to get big these days.

Do you guys lift during the season?

Yes.  About two or three times a week we have a team lift whether we’re on the road or at home.

How about the organization, do they encourage weightlifting?

Yeah.  It’s all organizational like. Our team has a strength guy; the AA team has a strength guy.  All the teams have a strength guy and they usually set it up when the team needs to go to this gym and they workout as a team.

What’s the hardest adjustment you’ve made from high school to pros?

I’d say the pitching.  I came from high school where I saw 82 miles an hour to 85. Then I go straight to guys throwing 90 every day or massive curve balls. Definitely hitting is my toughest adjustment.

Do you ever read the sports pages or the press about you?

Not really. If it’s lying around and someone tells me hey, look at this, then I’ll look at it and read it. But I don’t go looking for my name in all the press.

What about when Baseball America lists the top prospects in the organization?

No, I don’t look, but my dad loves to look, and he always tells me that stuff.  So I have an idea.

How do you handle the fans, the loudmouths?

You just block them out. When you’re hitting you don’t hear that kind of stuff.  You’re just focused.  You just block them out.  You can’t really listen to what they’re saying because it could distract you if you do listen.

How tough is that?  You’re what, 20 years old?

Nineteen.

How tough is that at 19 to block out these guys yelling.

I think you don’t even really have to think about blocking them out.  When you’re playing in the game, you’re just focused anyway and you don’t hear them. I’m sure it’s tough for some people.  If they hear them, then it’s probably tough to block them out.

How about the umpires?  How do you handle the ball and strike calls?

If they make a bad call or what I think is a bad call, I don’t say anything.  I just step out and get ready as if the next pitch is coming.  You can’t get mad at one call the umpire makes and ruin your whole at-bat.

How about the knock downs, brush-backs, and retaliation?

It happens.  That’s baseball.  It’s happened a couple of times this year for our team where there’s been some peg fests where their pitchers hit a couple of our guys. Our pitchers will hit them back. It just happens.  That’s baseball.

You can tell if a pitcher when the pitcher is throwing inside to establish the inside pitch?

Yeah.

And when he’s trying to hit somebody, right?

Right. There’s always times where you have an idea that if they’re going to start something it’s going to be here with this guy.  Like for instance, if someone hits a homerun and kind of pimps it and the next guy gets hit, then you don’t think that the guy was just trying to come inside. He’s probably showing off being like; don’t be standing in there that comfortable I will hit people. That’s usually what starts it, something like that.

What if you’re the next guy up after a guy hits a homerun and just trots around the bases and makes a big show?  What are you thinking?

I’d probably be thinking that there would be a chance.  I would be on my toes.  If that first pitch comes inside, I definitely would be ready for it. If it’s to the point where the guy really pimped it that bad, then there’s a possibility that the next guy would get hit.

So should there be any retaliation after that by your guys?

I think yes.  If we all believed that their pitcher hit one of our guys on purpose, then definitely we would want to retaliate.

Even if you guys started it by the way he ran around the bases?

I think running around the bases isn’t as bad as hitting someone with a 90-mile-an-hour fastball. As a team we’re going to stick together and we’re going to not let our guy get hit without one of their guys getting hit. But if they hit someone on accident, then so be it.

People get hit in games all the time?

Exactly, and that’s an accident.

Is there anything you’d tell somebody in high school on down about professional baseball that nobody could tell you that you had to learn, or nobody told you about?

Not that I can think of.  I think the only thing I’d really tell everyone about is just how much bigger everyone is, how hard you need to work in the weight room more, and just getting bigger. I tell all the younger guys that went to my high school how big everyone is and how little I am.  So that would be the main thing, I think.