Jul 16, 2007 9:31 pm US/Central
Serving It Up: Twins BP Pitcher Loves His Role
by Mike Max
(WCCO)
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Most major league pitchers who step on the mound at the Metrodome have one goal, get the hitters out. Not the case in batting practice.
CBS
He is a pitcher with a unique spot in the Twins organization. He pitches at the Metrdome in a Twins uniform, but it's always before the game. He's their batting practice pitcher, and more.
Eric Lovdahl has a baseball job, throwing batting practice for the Minnesota Twins. He started four years ago when Terry Ryan gave him a call.
"Almost kind of like a tryout. I threw to the double-A team and then the triple-A and then they had me throw to some of the big guys just to see ... you know relax, just throw it over," said Lovdahl, Twins batting practice pitcher.
He admits he was a little nervous that first time throwing to big league hitters.
While most major league pitchers who step on the mound at the Metrodome have one goal, get the hitters out, Lovdahl's goal is much different. He wants to give the hitters as much confidence as possible.
"I'm the only only left-hander on the staff. All the other coaches are right-handed. So I'm kind of the left-handed specialist. They use me more when a left-handed pitcher is starting that night. Basically, just groove a lot of four seamers. Sometimes mix it up, change speeds," Lovdahl said.
"He does a great job for us. He's out here day in and day out. He does everything everybody asks of him," said Michael Cuddyer, Twins outfielder.
He takes it on the road. Lovdahl teaches on behalf of the Twins to the youth, with the advantage of working with a big league roster.
"You're able to watch Santana or Joe Nathan do their short to long toss program and their daily mechanics. Just to emphasize these are the drills the pros do," Lovdahl said. "Behind the scenes too, in the clubhouse ... doing the drills without a ball."
At the end of the day he loves it, and the feeling seems to be mutual.
"He's always an upbeat guy. He definitely is appreciative of his position here with the Twins," said Twins infielder Jeff Cirillo.
"Kind of the round about way to putting on a major league uniform," said Lovdahl.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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