By BK, Athletic Hitting Development
Complete Hitters Are Built… It’s Earned!
Pete Rose. Bud Harrelson. Ty Cobb. Hal McRae. Lenny Dykstra. Dustin Pedroia. They were baseball’s sandpaper guys, and they were winners.
Sandpaper guys play as hard as possible inside the rules: slide hard but legal, pitch inside, move your feet, run everything out and play through the whistle. Players like Pete Rose and Dustin Pedroia made their teams tougher to beat, and that edge is a competing skill young players can learn.
Train it: Mental Approach Masterclass →They made everyone on their team better, and the other team hated them for it. They played “through the whistle,” to borrow a term from another sport. As a coach, my vote is simple: let’s get some sandpaper guys back.
Key takeaways
- Sandpaper is a hockey term for a player who is gritty, physical and tough to play against, and who wears the other team down.
- Baseball has always had sandpaper guys, and they won.
- You can be best friends with the other team’s players. Inside the game, they’re trying to beat you.
- Sandpaper has rules: play as hard as possible, inside the rules, with honor.
- Baseball needs a star who’s a heel. Not a criminal. A star who hates losing.
1. What “sandpaper” means
In hockey, a player with sandpaper plays with an edge. He wins the battles along the boards. He stands in front of the net and takes the punishment. He blocks the hard shot, finishes his check and makes the other team’s stars miserable for 60 minutes. Most of what he does never shows up on the scoresheet.
Just like real sandpaper, he rubs the other team down a little at a time, until by the third period they’d rather be anywhere else.
Baseball has those players too. We just stopped talking about them.
2. Baseball’s sandpaper guys
Pete Rose
“Charlie Hustle.” He sprinted to first base on a walk. He ran over Ray Fosse at home plate in an All-Star Game. He finished with more hits than anyone who ever played, 4,256.
Bud Harrelson
A small shortstop who didn’t back down from anybody. When Rose slid hard into him at second in the 1973 NLCS, Harrelson stood his ground, and the benches emptied. His Mets won the pennant.
Ty Cobb
The highest career batting average in history, and he took every base like it was owed to him. Infielders knew he was coming, and they hated it.
Hal McRae
His takeout slides at second base were so hard that baseball eventually wrote a rule about them. Ask the Yankees from the 1977 playoffs.
Lenny Dykstra
They called him “Nails.” Dirt on the uniform every night, a leadoff hitter who made the pitcher work every at-bat, and a key part of the 1986 Mets and 1993 Phillies pennant teams.
Dustin Pedroia
Listed at 5-foot-9, and he played every inning like he was 6-foot-5. Dirt on the jersey, diving for everything at second base and talking the whole time. Rookie of the Year in 2007, AL MVP in 2008, four Gold Gloves and a big part of two Red Sox World Series titles.
To be clear, I’m talking about how these guys played between the lines, not everything they did off the field. Between the lines, every one of them made his team tougher to beat.
They elevated everyone on their team, and the opponents hated them. That’s not a coincidence.
3. Friends are friends. Not for the next three hours.
You can be best friends with the players on the other team. Travel ball teammates, high school buddies, the kid you grew up with down the street. That’s great.
But when the game starts, they are trying to beat you. They’re trying to lay a big L on your side of the box score. Inside real competition, your friend is nothing more than someone trying to take a sweet Dub away from you.
So sandpaper the friendship for a few hours. Shake hands after. Go get something to eat together. Then you can be friends again.
THE STANDARD
SANDPAPERWITH HONOR.
- Slide hard — but legal.
- Pitchers: pitch inside.
- Infielders: move your feet.
- Run everything out.
- Play through the whistle.
AS HARD AS POSSIBLE. INSIDE THE RULES.
4. Sandpaper with honor
Sandpaper is not dirty baseball. It is not trying to hurt somebody. It is playing the game as hard as possible inside the rules, with a little honor attached.
1. Slide hard, but legal
Today’s rules say you have to slide into the base, not at the fielder. Fine. Slide hard into that base, every time, and make the fielder earn the out.
2. Pitchers, pitch inside
The inside part of the plate belongs to somebody. If the pitcher doesn’t take it, the hitter will. Pitch in with purpose. Not at a hitter, in on him.
3. Infielders, move your feet
Turn the double play with your feet moving so the runner never gets a clean shot at you. That’s sandpaper on defense: you’re not giving him anything.
4. Run everything out
A routine ground ball, run hard. A pop-up, run hard. The one time the ball gets dropped, you’re standing on second instead of walking back to the dugout.
5. Play through the whistle
Compete until the play is over, not until you think it’s over. Some of the biggest plays in baseball happen in the half second after everyone else stopped.
Those boys would love it. And so would the public.
5. Baseball needs a heel
Every great sport has one. The guy the other team’s fans love to boo, and his own fans would run through a wall for.
Baseball needs a star who’s a heel. Not a star who’s a criminal. A star who hates losing so badly that he sandpapers everything he can for a W. A star who makes the other dugout uncomfortable, plays it clean, and wins.
That’s good for the game. And it’s good for young players to see what real competing looks like.
6. For players, coaches and parents
- Players: pick one sandpaper habit for your next game. Run everything out, or slide hard into every base. Do it every time.
- Coaches: praise the dirty uniform. Reward the hard slide, the pitch inside, the ball run out that turned into a double.
- Parents: it’s OK that your kid wants to beat his friend. Teach him to compete hard and shake hands after.
7. Build the complete hitter
Don’t collect drills. Build a complete hitter.
Competing is a skill, and it lives in the mental approach, one of AHD’s four pillars. Start with SwingChecker™ to find your #1 priority for free. The AHD Complete Hitter Masterclass trains all four pillars together, and the first 3 lessons of every course are free. Want a plan built for your hitter? See online remote baseball and softball training with BK.
Quick answers
What does “sandpaper” mean in sports?
It’s a hockey term for a player who is gritty, physical and hard to play against. He wins the battles, takes the hits, frustrates the other team’s stars and wears them down over the course of a game, often in ways that never show up on the scoresheet.
Who were baseball’s sandpaper players?
Players like Pete Rose, Bud Harrelson, Ty Cobb, Hal McRae, Lenny Dykstra and Dustin Pedroia. They played with an edge, made the other team uncomfortable and made their own teams better.
Is playing with sandpaper the same as playing dirty?
No. Sandpaper means playing as hard as possible inside the rules: sliding hard but legally, pitching inside without throwing at hitters, moving your feet on defense and running everything out.
How can a young player compete harder without playing dirty?
Pick one sandpaper habit and do it every time: run everything out or slide hard into every base. Compete until the play is over, stay inside the rules and shake hands after.
