Piled Higer and Deeper

I’m starting to doubt the HOF bona fides of Cubs’ president Theo Epstein after his latest move, which was to name directors of hitting and pitching, respectively.  And who’s going to be put in charge of looking out the window, may I ask?

This bit of news, announced Thursday, included the revelation that the new hitting director had initially been hired by the North Siders to be a “biokinematic hitting consultant.”   According to an online plug I found for this New Age approach, the new hitting director says there’s been a century-long “bias” in teaching hitting based on aesthetics as much as anything.  Now, technology “allows us to put some objective numbers to something that’s been taught subjectively for a really long time.”  So much for the see ball/hit ball approach I used with Clare.  

If I’d been allowed to ask some questions of Epstein, I’d have started with what did the Cubs learn from biokinematics?  Who stinks, who shines, who needs to change and how?  Then I’d move on to address matters of organizational flow charts.

Will the respective directors have input on who gets hired as pitching coach and hitting coach throughout the minor leagues?  What about the major leagues?  What, exactly, will the new hitting and pitching philosophy/approaches be?  Will the next Cubs’ manager have any input on that, or will he have to go with the organizational flow?  Other businesses try to improve by streamlining bureaucracy while Cubs seem to be adding to theirs.  Why the difference?

Good thing I don’t have press credentials.