By Charm Plankovich September 25, 2020
With offense for the team with the most Championships in BatBreaker history lagging in the early part of Season 7, the Garveys have fired their first-year hitting coach Tom Niedenfeur immediately upon hiring Kirk Gibson to fill the position. “We were trying something different” said Garveys manager Steve Garvey, “hiring a former pitcher as a hitting coach was a gamble and it just didn’t pan out quite like we were hoping”. According to Garvey, the intent behind the idea of having a pitcher coaching hitters was to provide hitters with a more refined intuition as to which pitch the opposing pitcher is likely to throw and therefore a greater ability to “barrel-up” the pitch. After hitting sub .200 after the first three games of the season the Garveys have said enough is enough.
“Steve called me up a few days ago and asked if I wanted to be the Garveys hitting coach, and I said ‘Sure’…” said Gibson. The Garveys topped the powerful Dry Worms who had a league-leading .300 plus batting average coming into game 3. “It was really something” said Garvey of Kirk’s arrival at the clubhouse during game 3. “Once he stepped into the dugout the bats just lit up!” The Garveys are taking a cautious approach though as they can’t assume that his presence alone will keep the bats hot. Manager Garvey stated “Gibby is going to need a few games to get to know the guys and their swings to work on their approach, but I have a feeling by about the mid-point of this season we will be a brand new ball club”. That optimism is shared by Gibson. When asked if he felt the team could make a run for a fourth title now that he is the hitting coach, Gibson replied “Sure.”
Charm Plankovich has been a reporter for BatBreaker since 2018.