Time to Shake it Up

The Padres haven't been hitting lately and when the players have to deal with a team-wide slump, they do some crazy things to try and break out of it. I talked with Mud about it and he brought up some of the following things.

• Don't Shave
• Change something be it your shoes/shirt/way you wear your pants/bat/pre-game meal
• "Wake up the bats" by slapping around all the bats in the bat rack

And last but not least, if you have the right type of team or pick the right guy, it might be time to play a prank. Mud told me the story of when he was in the Giants organization. When he was playing for the AAA Phoenix Firebirds, he was part of a bad team. When they were on a losing streak, Mud went along the locker room with a few other teammates and left some presents for other players. He left a plate in front of the locker of a wild pitcher with a note saying 'this is a plate, can you find it?' He wrapped the glove of an error prone middle infielder in foil to joke about ground balls clanging off his glove.

It probably hasn't reached that point for the Friars yet, but if the bats stay silent and guys continue to press, sometimes laughter can end up being the best medicine.