Switch-hiting: a lost art?

Are switch-hitter becoming a dying breed in baseball?

Lenny Randle and A.J. Nunziato (pictured), two people who know a little about the subject, agree that switch-hitting is on the way to becoming a lost art, and the statistics support their theory. There are fewer switch-hitters in the professional game today than there were 20 years ago. Randle and Nunziato have different reasons why switch-hitters are becoming scarce.

Randle, the Wild Things' coach who spent 12 years in the major leagues after becoming a switch-hitter while playing college ball at Arizona State, says it's because youth league and high school coaches put too much emphasis on winning games and not enough on developing a player's skills.

Nunziato, the Wild Things' switch-hitting shortstop, says players who hit both left-handed and right-handed are becoming harder to find because it requires too much time and effort to hone the skills necessary to hit from both sides of the plate.

Randle was a natural right-handed hitter who learned to bat lefty while playing for former ASU coach and major league manager Bobby Winkles. Randle was a speedy middle infielder who played in the majors in the 1970s and early '80s. He fit the mold for switch-hitters from the 1950s through the '80s.

Many fast middle infielders who were natural right-handed hitters were turned around and taught how to hit lefty so they would get a step closer to first base.

"When I played, almost every team had at least one switch-hitter in the lineup," Randle said.
Most teams had more. The 1986, '88 and '90 St. Louis Cardinals each had five switch-hitters in their lineup. The 1993 New Yort Mets had six switch-hitters. Going back a few decades, the entire starting infield of the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers could switch hit.

Today, switch-hitters are harder to find. Randle says that's because of coaching.

"I know for a fact that coaches discourage switch-hitting," he said. "Coaches today, in the youth leagues, tell players 'I need you to hit from your strongest side. If you want to switch-hit, then you're not going to play every game for me.' Switch-hitting has become a lost art.'"

Randle, however, says players today are as willing as those from decades ago to try their hand at becoming a switch-hitter. To prove this point, he walks into the coaches' locker area of Consol Energy Park and pulls out a stack of letters -- about 10 or 12 in all -- from youth players who asked Randle for their help in becoming a switch-hitter.

"If a player wants to learn to switch-hit, then he needs to try. I would advise him to play a lot of pepper, play home run derby from both sides and hit off a tee," Randle said. "And I'd tell him to play tennis because you have to learn to forehand and backhand shots in that sport. That helps. I'd bet Roger Federer would make a good switch-hitter."

Randle added that switch-hitting helps a player pay more attention to the details of his swing.
"One thing it does is make your concentrate more," he said. "Things you don't notice about your swing from one side, you'll pick up on the other side."

Nunziato is a rarity for a Wild Things player in that he's a switch-hitter. In their 11-plus seasons, the Wild Things have had only a few switch-hitters. Nunziato replaced injured Michael Mooney (also a switch-hitter) in the lineup at shortstop a few weeks ago. Before Mooney joined Washington, I believe the last switch-hitter to crack the Wild Things' regular lineup was second baseman Phil Butch in 2008.

Nunziato learned to switch-hit without really trying. When he was five years old in New York, his father would pitch to him in the back yard.

"When I was hitting, I would go through the New York Yankees' lineup. When I got to Tino Martinez, I had to switch around to the left side. That's how I started," Nunziato said. "I started playing organized baseball when I was five, and I started switch-hitting in games when I was seven. I've done it ever since."

In the youth leagues, Nunziato didn't play the lefty-righty percentages. If an opponent started two right-handed pitchers in a doubleheader, Nunziato would bat right-handed one game, then change to lefty the next game. It wasn't until the opposing pitchers began throwing curveballs that he began playing the matchups.

"Since then, I've take only one left-handed at-bat against a left-handed pitcher," he said. "My coach in that game said, out of the last five left-handed batters the pitcher faced, he hit all five. He told me to go up there and get hit for the team. The pitcher threw me three breaking balls and struck me out. After that, it was always right-handed hitting against lefties."

Nunziato agrees that switch-hitting is becoming a lost art.

"I have never seen more than one switch-hitter on any team I've played against. That's high school, summer leagues, college," he said.

Why?

"Because of the amount of work work that goes into it, switch-hitters are becoming a dying breed," he said. "I take 50 to 60 pitches a day from each side of the plate during batting practice. That's not counting any swings I take in the cage.

"People tell me they like that I switch-hit," Nunziato said. "Most of them tell me they tried it when they were growing up but stopped because of the work it takes to become good at it."