Before Saturday night’s game, Albert Belle sat in the White Sox clubhouse watching a videotape of Seattle pitcher Jamie Moyer while the rest of his teammates enjoyed the movie “Con Air.”
“You’re watching Moyer?” Frank Thomas asked. “You know what he’s going to give you.”
Maybe, but there’s no arguing that Belle’s work ethic has paid off during the Sox’s West Coast swing. Through the first five games of the trip, Belle hit .438 and had three of the team’s five home runs. The rest of the Sox were batting a combined .220.
“Albert’s a student of the game,” Sox pitching coach Nardi Contreras said. “He knows how every pitcher has pitched him in the past. There are not many guys like him.”
And against Moyer, hitters need all the help they can get.
The 35-year-old left-hander entered the game 10-8 with a 3.55 earned-run average. Since 1996, Moyer is 40-16 despite having a fastball that looks a lot like Randy Johnson’s changeup.
“He’s great,” Contreras said. “When I was (with Seattle), he was like my assistant pitching coach.”
One of the reasons Moyer has excelled is his dedication. The former Cub keeps a book with details on every hitter he faces.
Contreras, who joined the Sox coaching staff in May, would like to see his pitchers develop similar habits. One good candidate would be Jim Parque, who took the hill Saturday against Moyer.
Parque already has shown his dedication by altering his delivery in midseason. Contreras has been encouraging the 5-foot-10-inch lefty to shorten his stride to the plate.
