It’s funny how a speaking engagement at the Chamber of Commerce this winter in Douglas brought a record 450 people out to hear Greg Walker. Now that its native son is the Braves’ new hitting coach, interest among even those who know him best is piqued.
when talking to his parents, Walker can skip the White Sox small talk, like he made for nine years as Chicago’s hitting coach and nine more as a player, and get right to what they wanted to talk about anyway — the Braves.
“Some of my family and friends are some of the biggest Braves fans on earth,” he said.
Walker has joined the team he cheered for as a kid at a pivotal time. The Braves hired him to help rework swings rather than rework the roster, counting on him to help Jason Heyward and Martin Prado get back on track after their batting averages dropped 97 points total last season.
So there’s a curiosity about Walker and an excitement. He feels it, too.
“When you go through a season like we did last year in Chicago, it really it burns you out,” said Walker, who resigned after a 79-83 season, as did manager Ozzie Guillen, over differences with general manager Ken Williams. “As soon as I got the Braves job, it re-energized me. I started looking forward to getting back to work again.”
The first thing he did was get phone numbers to touch base with the hitters. He called Terry Pendleton, Braves first base coach and former hitting coach, for his input on hitters. He started building relationships, something the Braves see as key in developing a level of communication players never fully realized with former hitting coach Larry Parrish.
Walker drove 3 1/2 hours from Douglas twice a week to work with players. His first meeting with Heyward was over lunch.
“I think you have to treat each player as an individual,” Walker said. “To do that you’ve got to gain their trust, you’ve got to get to know who they are and they’ve got to know you’re in their corner no matter what.”
Braves GM Frank Wren said he always heard Walker was a good communicator, and it came across in the interview. Wren believes players crave coaches who are honest with them, who will tell them when their swings are off, but that only works when player and coach connect.
“You have to be able to build that relationship where they’re willing to hear it from you,” Wren said. “That you’ve invested enough, that you know enough, and that you are looking out for them and they realize that and they now accept it. I think he has got that kind of approach.”
What Walker wanted from Wren was an associate hitting coach, like he had in Mike Gellinger in Chicago. He was especially pleased when Wren came back suggesting Scott Fletcher.
Walker and Fletcher played together with the White Sox from 1983-85 and have remained friends. Fletcher, whom Wren said many recommended for the hitting coach job, takes over a new hybrid role. He’ll use video to do advance scouting, replacing a traditional advance scout, and assist Walker with hitters.
Wren said he first got to know Fletcher, whose son, Brian, played for Auburn, on an unofficial recruiting trip there with his twin sons Kyle and Colby. Fletcher has also given Wren a demonstration of “RightView Pro,” the video system he helped develop.
By using it now, Fletcher gives Braves hitters a more in-depth look at their swings. A player can compare his swings chronologically, even super-imposing images of when it was going well on images of when it wasn’t. He can compare himself with other hitters in history, with similar swings or body types.
It serves as another way of getting a message across.
“They might feel like they’re doing something correctly, then they see, ‘No I’m not,’” Fletcher said. “It’s a matter of letting them know.”
Wren said feedback he’s gotten from hitters has been very positive.
“They’re more visual guys, [and] I’m a visual learner,” Chipper Jones said of working with Walker and Fletcher. “You can talk to me all day and I’ll sit there and nod at you and be looking at the back of your skull before too long. ... But if I see what I’m doing wrong and I can compare the two, then I can fix it. Then I have something to go to. And I think a lot of guys in here are like that.”
A call to Jones was one of the first Walker made after he got the job, and Walker said as soon as Jones started talking about hitting, he was excited to hear a lot of the same terminology he uses.
Jones has played a big role in helping Heyward regain his form, coming to hit the same days Heyward does. And Walker has shown that he’s big on collaboration with veteran players, as he was with White Sox players Jim Thome, Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko.
Walker isn’t one to be threatened by outside forces, like when players lean on their fathers or personal hitting coaches for advice. He considers them resources.
“My theory on it is before I say I don’t like it, I want to know what he’s telling him,” Walker said. “Go meet him, go talk to him, and if we’re on the same page, why do I care? If we’re not on the same page then it’s up to me to have the science or the proof that I’m right and he’s not.”
Walker is secure in himself, experienced, and prepared. He’s excited, too. It was 1969 when he attended his only Braves game as a fan. Come Monday, when pitchers and catchers begin workouts, he’ll put on a Braves uniform for the first time.
“It’s going to be pretty cool,” he said.
