Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider enjoys warming up his top hitters in pre-game batting practice.David Zalubowski/The Associated Press
John Schneider never played in the big leagues. Toronto’s manager spent his career in the organization’s minor-league system. In 251 games, he caught 240, and played in the field 11 times.
In one of those, he threw an inning for the AA-level New Hampshire Fisher Cats on a night when the bullpen ran so low they had to employ a position player.
He did well, actually. No runs, one hit and a strikeout.
When he has the opportunity now, Schneider enjoys throwing batting practice to some of the Blue Jays’ hitters. They actually ask for him.
“I love it,” Schneider, 45, said Monday before he took the mound a couple of hours before Toronto faced the Minnesota Twins at Rogers Centre. “I’ve pretty much done it my whole life. I do it whenever I can.”
The spot where he throws from is about 45 feet from home plate. He tosses balls seconds apart and, as soon as he lets go, ducks behind a screen placed in front of him for protection.
“Thank God,” he said, laughing.
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Like hotdogs, keeping score and singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game, watching batting practice is one of the joys of the game.
Teams take their turns swinging for the fences beginning a little more than two hours before the start. For anyone who ever wore a mitt and cleats, there is something awe-inspiring about watching major-league hitters flex their muscles.
George Springer hits a solo home run against the Miami Marlins this past Saturday at LoanDepot Park.Rhona Wise/Reuters
Years ago, when I covered the New York Mets for Newsday in New York, I saw Mike Piazza hit a ball well over 500 feet during batting practice at Coors Field in Denver. The year before last, on a visit to Fenway Park in Boston, I stood in the back row way above the green monster, the nearly four-storey wall in left field.
From there I had a bird’s-eye view when Pete Alonso of the Mets launched a ball over the fence, out of the stadium and over a parking garage behind it. It can cause chills.
Players take turns swinging at about five pitches five times. They bunt twice at the beginning. Then the fun begins.
George Springer is one of Schneider’s biggest spoils. He hit four home runs in a row off Schneider on Monday and at least a half-dozen in all on Tuesday.
“He can change speeds and put the ball where you want him to,” Springer said. “Batting practice can be one of the most enjoyable things you do before a game.
“It’s a time where you can make technical corrections and have the freedom to see what the flight of the ball is doing.”
Springer actually does not try to hit every pitch out of the park. He makes adjustments and tries to spray the ball around the field in each round. Schneider moves it inside and out per Springer’s wishes.
“I’m pretty much able to put the ball where they want it,” Schneider said. “If I wasn’t good at it I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t force them to let me.”
Before Game 133 of the season, Bo Bichette lined a pitch right at Schneider’s chest. Saved by the screen again.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits a solo home run against the Kansas City Royals in Toronto on Aug. 1.Mark Blinch/Getty Images
As one might expect, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits the longest home runs. Balls fly off his bat as if they are rocket-propelled.
A few come dangerously close to the manager.
“He hits the ball harder than 99 per cent of the guys in the game,” Springer said. “I’d be terrified if I was out there.”
Davis Schneider, Toronto’s infielder and outfielder, has taken a few turns at throwing batting practice.
“If you don’t get behind the screen quickly enough you could get hit with a ball in the head and it could kill you,” he said.
He likes batting against his manager.
“I like it when John pitches,” Schneider, who is not related to the manager, said. “He throws it in the same spot every time. He knows what to do.”
John Schneider began throwing batting practice as a minor-league manager. The first time he threw to major league hitters during spring training he realized immediately that players at that level are much different than minor-leaguers.
“There is a big difference in the exit velocity,” Schneider said.
He said it took him a while not to flinch when a line drive comes at him at nearly 100 miles an hour.
“It takes a while to get used to it, but every now and then I still flinch,” he said.