Only one way to do it!

I hear Bobby Valentine talking about why he enjoys managing Japanese baseball so much -- saying that there, guys are so disciplined and so detail-oriented that he never has to worry about guys missing signals, or not giving full effort or not practicing the right way. And it makes me feel good and confident that the way I do things is the right way of doing things. I devote a lot of time and energy into the simplest and most mundane details on the baseball field. And I get disgusted when I see a player not playing to his full capabilities and even more irritated when a player -- knowing what the right way of doing things is, chooses (for whatever reason) to take the lazy road and cheats himself out of a good repetition or exercise.

It may seem obsessive to some -- but like an expensive Ferrari -- the beauty of the game for me is in seeing all the pieces fit together and having the whole perform in-tune and at a high level.

If a few fungo bats have to be sacrificed in that pursuit - so be it!