Faul talked to reporters several times about what hypnosis had done for him.   He became an evangelist for hypnosis, and, in the spring of 1966, hypnosis was a hot button topic.   Several other young pitchers also tried it, and some talked about it.   

              But asked about this, Pete Rose, then a young star, said something like, "I don’t believe in none of that stuff."   This quote is taken from memory and the memory is more than 50 years ago, so, you know. . .it ain’t word for word.   "I don’t believe in none of that stuff," Rose said.   "You are what you are.   You can’t cheat this game.   Yeah, he’s pitching great now, but let’s see where he is in July."   Faul won only one game in the rest of his career. 

              I thought about that, and, because Rose had been proven right—and, as I recall, Rose was virtually the only baseball person who was willing to call bull on it—and because he was right, I tried to understand what he was saying.   You have to be careful about it, because it is a truth that stands next to some ugly falsehoods.   But what I think he was saying, in our language, was something like this.   What counts, in the long run, is the entire structure of the man.    He has some confidence now, and that’s great, but he has to have the work habits that go with it.   He has to have the arm and the body that will hold up to 40 starts. . . 40 starts at that time.    He has to have the athleticism to hold up to a long season.   He has to have the psychological strength to handle the strains—and the temptations—of a long baseball season.   He has to know how to prepare himself for his next start.   He has to know where to go when somebody figures out he is going to throw the pitch over the heart of the strike zone.    He has to have the ability to re-build his confidence when he falls into a slump.   He has to have the knowledge of the game, the assortment of pitches.   Intelligence, knowledge, a skill set, work habits, energy, psychological resilience, athleticism, arm strength.    It’s a package.   It is built over time; it requires time.   If the package SEEMS to change suddenly. . .well, I don’t believe it. 

              Of course we want to be careful with this; I am not suggesting that there is no value in hypnosis, or that there is no value in launch angle.  There IS value in these things, I am sure. But let’s see how he is doing in July.   If he changes his swing path, does that create a hole in his swing?   Does it make him vulnerable to something that the pitchers just haven’t found yet?    Will the whole structure of the man sustain this level of success?

              I know that Zimmerman has some ability that he hasn’t been able to get to for the last. . .well, three years, certainly, and maybe more than that.  He was a good hitter for eight years.   But I have seen a thousand of these things come and go. . . .carbohydrate loading, and hyperextension of the elbow, and goat gland implants, and . . .what was that silly circle that pitchers were wearing around their necks two years ago, that they claimed would help them with their balance?     To me, launch angle is just the latest one of them.   Some players will get something out of it.    But you are who you are, and you can’t cheat the game.