Between batting practice and games, Sidewinders hitting coach Joel Youngblood often spends time playing computer games in his office.
He sits in front of two screens displaying a game called "Diablo," in which a player voyages through dungeon levels to save the world from the Lord of Terror.
"It's fun when you have eight guys playing, guys who are 10 years old to my age, and everyone's talking crap," said Youngblood, 56.
At home, he sometimes uses eight computers to accelerate the game.
"I'm pretty geeky," he said with a laugh.
Fittingly, he compares teaching a player to hit to school. The students receive information, process it and maybe learn to enjoy the education.
"It's a process of being able to provide good substantial, concrete information that, if they listen to, they will believe what I'm saying," Youngblood said.
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He discussed how the Sidewinders have overcome a slow start to bat .291 (second in the Pacific Coast League), how each player has improved and how he has tutored Jamie D'Antona, whose .373 average before Thursday's game was second in the league:
Q: What has impressed you most about D'Antona's season?
A: "He's learned a lot about what a long season is and how to control himself. We were just talking about this after we hit. Last year, when he took batting practice, all he tried to do is hit the ball as hard as he could. That consequently can put you in bad habits."
Q: Who has made the biggest strides?
A: "(Jesus) Merchan has been our most consistent hitter. Day in and day out, he hits line drives. He hasn't had a lot of valleys and peaks. (He) just needs a little bit of direction.
(Tim) Raines has done a good job. He's learning. He can be a lot better than he is. Has tremendous power.
(Trent) Oeltjen has improved. He can be a lot better hitter. He just pulls his head some.
(Donnie) Kelly is probably the hardest working guy on the team. Every day, he wants to work. He's learned a lot and listens.
(Matt) Morgan has made some tremendous improvements from last year, coming off an injury and not being able to swing good and being consistent with his approach.
(Phil) Avlas has a good swing right now. He puts the bat on the ball, and he's aggressive.
(Wilkin) Castillo is probably one of the guys who has made less improvement, but I don't think he's been in a position to work with me as willingly as some of the other players have, but now he is. It takes time. It's a long process.
(Josh) Whitesell has adjusted to me. At first, coming from a different organization (Washington) and having success, it was difficult, but now he listens to me and understands how I'm trying to help him by not changing him, by teaching him what to do within his own ability."
Q: What did you tell them during the slow start?
A: "I don't want to see anybody fail. … I tell each person the same criteria. I teach the same thing I would teach Whitey as I would Avlas. If I was giving a kid a lesson, I would teach him the same way. Once they know I'm not telling someone something different, they tend to be a little more open. If I had a player last year, it's easy. It's the new players. When you're given players, they don't even know your name when they get here. That's difficult, because you have a trust factor. … People are afraid I might prevent them from having a good year, so there's a lot of things you're dealing with."
