Word: batted
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...things considered-and nothing is unconsidered in the serious business of games played by grown men-it is the most difficult task in sport. Consider the problem: a bat 2¾ in. in diameter at its widest, hitting a ball not quite 3 in. in diameter; two objects-one cylindrical, the other a sphere-meeting headon. Consider the speed: a major league pitcher's fastball traveling well over 90 m.p.h., hissing the 60-ft. 6-in. distance from mound to plate in ⅔ of a second. Consider the odds: the game's greatest stars failing the task seven...
Like Williams, Carew can tell with a single heft if his bat is minutely out of order. Williams once lifted six bats, one by one, then unhesitatingly picked out the weapon that was a half-ounce heavier than the others. Carew sent a recent shipment of bats back to Hillerich & Bradsby, maker of the famed Louisville Slugger. His exasperated explanation: "Every one was the wrong weight, and the handles were all too big." Interpretation: the wood was not shaved within the proper tiny fraction of an inch of perfection. Like all the other great hitters, Carew scrupulously cares...
...Bats are so valuable to Carew-and Carew's bat so valuable to the Twins -that a locked closet next to the clubhouse sauna is reserved for his lumber. The heat of the sauna "bakes out the bad wood," as Carew phrases it. He also keeps a supply of bats in his locker stall, safely distant from the communal bin in the tunnel leading to the dugout. "I see guys bang their bats against the dugout steps after they make an out. That bruises them, makes them weaker. I couldn't do that. I baby my bats, treat...
...baseball. He spots the ball-its speed and rotation-as soon as it leaves the pitcher's fingertips. Says he: "I can tell by the rotation whether it's a curve, slider or fastball." What is more, Carew can often actually see the ball hit his bat. Kansas City Outfielder Amos Otis has a hitter's respect for the Carew eye: "Trying to sneak a pitch past him is like trying to sneak the sunrise past a rooster." Says the New York Yankees' Catfish Hunter, who has been the premier pitcher of the American League since...
...opposing catchers are not wary, he will move so deep that his left foot is completely-and illegally-out of the box. Says Carew: "The further back I am, the longer I can look at the pitch." When he has had his look, his wrists slash the bat toward the ball-quick as a striking snake. Carew has the wrists and forearms of a heavyweight, the result of a regular routine of weight lifting. He keeps a dumbbell in his locker in the clubhouse: on the field before games, he curls a 13-lb. metal bar habitually, almost absentmindedly. Says...