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MODERNERA BATMAN by modernerabaseball.com

With his knee shot, Tony Gwynn was relegated to mostly a pitch-hitting role in 2001.

Not a problem for Batman, who at one point was batting .500 as a pitch-hitter. We decided to let Tony do what does best besides hitting � talk hitting � and caught up with him after he drove in the winning run in a game this past season.

�You just go up there and try and get a good pitch to hit,� Tony says simply as a crowd of reporters surround his locker.

The rest of this interview is unedited, so you can better understand inside the mind of one of baseball�s greatest hitters to ever put on a uniform.

On his one at bat in the game, a game-winning RBI: �That�s my biggest thing. Fastball away, breaking ball away and then I leaped out at a fastball away and two strikes, you know, you�re just trying to put it in play. And I got a breaking ball that I was out in front of but my bat stayed in the zone and I found a hole. And I was able to get to second base too and it turned out to be the winning run.�

�Right now, in that situation, you�re just trying to get a pitch to hit. That�s all. Try to keep the ball off the ground and get a ball up and try to put a good swing on it, and really, I lucked out because I�m sure that breaking ball was supposed to be more away from me but he kind of hung it in the middle and I was able to hook it down the line.�

Question from a reporter: �Everybody is kind of in awe now of what you�ve been able to do the last few times you�ve pitch-hit, what are your thoughts?�

�I�m just doing what I�ve always done, really,� Tony answered.

�When you break it all down, whether it�s one time up or four times up, what I do is put the bat on the ball and usually it gets a lot more attention when there�s guys in scoring position and that�s what I said before. The one time they don�t want to see a guy like me come up is when guys are in scoring position because usually when you put the bat on the ball you�re going to get a run in.�

�Like I said, in that situation, I did not want to hit a ball on the ground because I know if I hit it on the ground there�s a good chance (Tony starts to chuckle) they�re going to turn two, so I�m trying to get a ball up in the zone that I can do something with. And really, I had three balls to do that with. But the first two I really didn�t attack it the right way. And so, but the last ball, I was able to do something with it so, like I said, I�m trying to do what I�ve been trying to do.�

�I know people are making a big deal out of it because it�s pitch-hitting. It�s that one crack. You get one crack at it and if you succeed it�s easy to go about your business and when you fail you�re up all night long. And, you know, that�s pretty much the life of a pitch-hitter.�

�But, you know, sitting there watching the game on the bench you really kinda get a different perspective because I�m watching the flow of the game and I�m watching (Cubs pitcher Kevin) Tapani � he was in and out, he changed speeds, he was up in the zone. He came back with the change up so, you know, you�re watching the game and you�re watching hitters and if you really just pay attention it really just keeps you in the game. When you go up there to hit, it�s not like you�re just sitting there on the bench doing nothing, �saying, ok, I got to go up and swing the bat.��

�I�m approaching it like, you know, �I�ve been in there. I�ve watched the game. I�ve watched how guys have pitched.� You�re situational thinking. I know what (Cubs Manager Don) Baylor�s doing. I know what (Padres Manager Bruce) Boch(y) is doing. You try to pick a spot where you think your time might come.�

�Basically, it still boils down to getting a good pitch to hit and doing what I need to do, and here lately its worked pretty good, so these guys are trying to get me to not retire and pitch-hit for the rest of my life! And I�m like, �No, forget it, I�m still trying to get out there and play on a regular basis!��

�And it�s worked out. It gives you a chance. It gives you an opportunity. And if you succeed, it�s great. And if you fail, it�s a lot deeper than people make it out to be. It�s tough. It�s a tough night�s sleep when you go home.�

�Like last night, (Kyle) Farnsworth, he�s throwin� 99 (miles per hour). Just beat me, just beat me inside, you know? I look at the tape, I came here today, go to work, take some swings and, you know, you�re only going to get that one crack so that�s the thing that makes a little bit of difference.�