Baseball Beginnings

By John Klima
June 29, 2009

Ryan Zimmerman had it from the start, a player who went from college to the big leagues in a matter of months in 2005 and began hitting the moment he arrived. The fourth overall pick in 2005 from Virginia, Zimmerman has been a cornerstone for the Washington Nationals since the moment he signed. Little has been built around him since that time, and he’s on pace for another season of around 25 home runs and 90 RBIs. Washington fans love him. He’s a local boy, one of their own, he can rake, and everybody needs somebody to love.

Baseball Beginnings caught up with Zimmerman when the Nationals were in Los Angeles in May. When this interview was conducted, Zimmerman had a 24-game hitting streak. I want it on the record with Nationals nation that not once did I mention the hitting streak. He made it 25 that night and the streak ended at 30 games in San Francisco the following week. It’s not my fault people brought out the 1941 Joe DiMaggio 56-game stuff nine games before Zimmerman got to the 1987 Paul Molitor 39-game streak.

Hype so often distorts baseball that it’s easy to lose sight of what makes a player successful in the first place. At the ripe old age of 24, Zimmerman is already a hardened veteran at an age when many players are still floundering.

What can young players learn from a player who carried his success as an amateur into pro ball? What can fans glean from the commitment a player puts into his trade, especially when playing for the Nationals on a nightly basis must be a painful pleasure.

For our first Q&A of our new feature, Big League Beginnings, we asked Zimmerman what makes him tick.

Baseball Beginnings: How do the habits you employ as an amateur hitter immediately influence the success you have as a professional hitter?
Zimmerman: I think the important thing is that you don’t change the way you hit. There’s so much more information available when you reach the big leagues which help you out more than anything. I think the thing is that you have to try to keep the same swing you had from the time you were five years old. Obviously you make some adjustments, but for the most part, you have to be the same person and trust what you have. When you get to the faster pitching, you can’t miss their mistakes.

Baseball Beginnings: When you look back at your own development, how do you remember the steps you took from being a high school hitter to a college hitter and then as a college hitter to a fast tracked professional hitter?
Zimmerman: I think you have to pay attention to your experiences. The more you learn, the better you get. The more experience you get, the better you become. You get stronger. Once you get to a certain level in this sport, you start to realize how it’s more mental than physical if you have the physical skills to compete at this level.

Baseball Beginnings: If you went and had lunch with a guy who is a considered a definite major league prospect, be it a high school or college guy about to go down the path you’ve been on, what would you tell the guy?
Zimmerman: You have to learn what you do well and what you don’t do well. You have to develop a routine that gets you ready to play every day. Baseball is a sport of habit. To be consistent, you need a plan, to have a plan, you need to do the same things every day so your body is used to it. I think that’s how you go out and perform and give yourself the best chance to be successful.

Baseball Beginnings: I’ve had some strong right-handed hitters tell me that they prefer to swing with wood than with metal. Were you that way?
Zimmerman: Metal is such a different feel. You can’t make any mistakes with wood. You can get away with some stuff with metal. You can get jammed and get a hit. You can hit it off the end of the bat and get a hit and it can still goes a long ways. Wood just has a better feel. It’s a true judge of a hitter.

Baseball Beginnings: When you were a “kid,” comparatively speaking, what did you like?
Zimmerman: Always metal because you could hit the ball farther. I never hit with wood regularly until the end of high school.

Baseball Beginnings: How would you describe the work ethic that goes into being a successful and productive major league hitter?
Zimmerman: It’s such a hard thing to do. As soon as you take it for granted and don’t work on it and don’t do the little things that made you successful, that’s when you start struggling. You start missing pitches and things like that. It’s such a game of being exact. You have to be precise. You have to be perfect. The more you practice, the more your body remembers, the more your muscles remember.

Baseball Beginnings: Does it take almost nothing for a major league hitter to fall into a slump? If you’re off by something extremely small, you’re 0-for-your-last 10?
Zimmerman: It’s hard to hit four balls hard in one game. It’s hard to get hits. It’s not easy to string a lot together.

Baseball Beginnings: Can you describe what it was like to be a No. 1 pick of the National organization, and what unique circumstances may come with being a No. 1 pick of this particular franchise?
Zimmerman: I think it was unique for me because I’m from the area. As far as being as a No. 1 for an organization, that’s just a matter of timing. But if I had gone and played in Seattle or Kansas City, I think my career would have been a lot different in terms of growing up there or going to school around there. I don’t know that I’d say it added pressure on me, but I’d say it raised the level of excitement around me.

Baseball Beginnings: Did they tag “Savior” on you?
Zimmerman: I don’t know if they spun it that way, but I guess it’s been heightened. I don’t think I’d call it pressure, but responsibility of being the young face, or whatever term they want to use. It doesn’t bother me and I don’t really think of it that way, but that’s the way it’s said. I don’t know that it’s a title.

Baseball Beginnings: You played with and against David Wright as an amateur. Did you see enough of him to get a feel for him as a player then and can you see what traits he had as an amateur that made him a successful pro?
Zimmerman: We played on a travel team together. He was two grades older than me. We never played against each other, but we played together for like 20 games one year. I guess you can say he is pretty much the same guy. He grew up, got stronger, but you could see what he had now back then already. He was the same hitter that he was.

Go back to Big League Beginnings