Star-Ledger

03/16/01

BY DAN GRAZIANO STAR-LEDGER STAFF

TAMPA, Fla. -- The whole machine is about the size of a Tom Clancy paperback, and the video screen is no bigger than a credit card. But flashing on that screen is an image of Yankees phenom Alfonso Soriano hitting a baseball.

Gary Denbo, the machine's owner and operator, grins.

"That's a perfect swing," says Denbo, the Yankees' rookie hitting coach. "A perfect swing, captured on video. That's exciting to me."

The swing in question resulted in a leadoff home run for Soriano in the bottom of the first inning of Wednesday night's exhibition game against the Rangers. There's a pretty good chance Denbo's going to print out a five-frame sequential photo of that swing and hang it in Soriano's locker. These photo strips are hanging all over the Yankees' Legends Field clubhouse these days, and they're the most tangible evidence of Denbo, who replaced Chris Chambliss as Yankee hitting coach after the 2000 season ended.

"Every hitter has a highlight tape," Denbo said yesterday. "What we do is put them together so they have something to go back and look at when they're not going so well." Denbo was sitting in an empty batting cage about five hours before last night's exhibition game against the Blue Jays. His Sony Video Walkman was in front of him, and he took his visitor through Soriano's home run swing frame by frame. The five photos on the strips are taken at the same five points in each hitter's swing, and they represent what Denbo sees as the five essential components of any swing -- the setup, the loading action (cocking the bat), the front foot hitting the ground, the point of impact and the finish.

Denbo clicks these off, frame by frame, pausing the longest at step three, where Soriano's front foot hits the ground and the swing begins its forward motion.

"There's probably more information there than in any other area," Denbo said. "That's when the swing starts."

Soriano, of course, is swinging as well now as anyone in the game. He entered last night's game hitting .462 and leading all major-leaguers with 18 spring hits. So Soriano hasn't been sitting through a lot of these video sessions.

"When you're in that zone like Soriano's in right now, where every pitch looks like a beach ball to you, most guys'll tell you they don't even think about what they're doing," Denbo said.

The only thing Denbo has said to Soriano lately is the occasional subtle reminder to "swing at good pitches." He believes bad habits can start in the middle of hot streaks. And in Soriano's case, an overly large strike zone now could mean problems down the road.

"He can point out a lot of things with that video," said Derek Jeter, who has known Denbo since 1992, his first year of pro baseball, when Denbo was his manager at Class A Tampa. "And it's a huge help, because when you're hitting, sometimes you don't know what you're doing wrong."

First baseman Tino Martinez has a two-frame photo strip in his locker. The top frame shows him lunging too far in front of a ball as he hits it. The bottom shows him the very next day, making a good swing.

"I like to know, on a day-to-day basis, what I'm doing wrong, so I can eliminate the bad habits," Martinez said. "It takes a lot of time, and he's been here, putting in the time. It's not like it's easy to do. You've got to like to do it, and he does."

Watching Denbo with his video player, that becomes apparent. He raves about Bernie Williams' balance and "adjustability." He notes Jorge Posada striding too far as he takes a pitch.

"I wouldn't show him that one, because I know what he'd say," Denbo said of Posada. "I'm not going to let him have a negative mental image in his head."

There are times when a hitter will come to Denbo in a slump. Denbo, having been poring over video, will tell the hitter what he's doing wrong, and the hitter won't believe him until he sees the video.

"I've had hitters say, 'That's not me'," Denbo said. "Until they see the number on their back and they realize. Video's such a great tool because there are times when guys will not believe what they're doing is wrong."

Of course, the ultimate goal is what Denbo was watching yesterday afternoon. Soriano's current hot streak could just land him the Yankees' starting left field job on Opening Day, and success stories like that make all the early hours in the batting cage, and all the late-night hours in front of the video screen, worth it.

"What every hitter dreams about is being in a zone like that, where everything comes easy," Denbo said. "That's why we do all this work."