Seeing is Believing for Gators Outfielder Buddy Reed
Friday, February 27, 2015 | Baseball, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- See the ball, hit the ball.
Sounds simple enough.
Of course, when a baseball is coming at you 90 miles per hour and showing off its dance moves as well, there's nothing simple about it.
“The hardest thing to do in sport,'' late big-leaguer Ted Williams, considered one of the best hitters of all-time, once said about hitting a baseball.
Retired Yale University physics professor Robert Adair agreed, writing in his book “The Physics of Baseball” that the moment of contact when a bat strikes a ball last just 1/1,000th of a second.
This brings us to the case of Gators sophomore outfielder Buddy Reed.
Reed opened the season 1-for-14 when the Gators swept a three-game series from Rhode Island two weeks ago. The Gators churned out 37 runs in the three games and hit six home runs.
Reed spent most of his time greeting his teammates in the dugout after they came around to score.
In a mid-week game at South Florida a couple of days later, Reed decided to use prescription baseball glasses instead of his usual contacts.
Reed has never used glasses to play baseball but had used old Rec Specs made famous by such professional athletes as Eric Dickerson and Horace Grant when he played hockey growing up.
His baseball glasses look much cooler.
“Let's go with them and see what happens,'' Reed said of his mentality.
In his first game with his new eyewear, Reed went 3-for-6 with three RBIs. He hasn't taken them off since, pulling himself out of that dismal 1-for-14 start by going 11-for-24 over the past five games.
Reed's walk-off single a week ago against Miami gave the Gators a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes and provided a snapshot of Reed's resurgence.
“He's had a good couple of weeks,'' Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. “He's seeing the ball good. How much do the glasses make a difference? I don't know. He's in a good place. I think he is feeling confident right now.”
Reed explained his reason for the change.
“There was a difference,'' he said. “Contacts, you are constantly putting your fingers on the lens itself. Sometimes it would be a little blurry. With the glasses I think it's more clear.”
O'Sullivan isn't complaining.
Buddy Reed adjusts his glasses in Saturday's game against Miami. (Photo: Tim Casey)
Reed hit .244 as a freshman and added muscle to his speedy 6-foot-3 frame in the offseason.
“I just didn't know why it didn't happen earlier,'' O'Sullivan quipped. “I guess hindsight is 20/20. He's certainly swinging the bat much better since he got his glasses.”
The Gators welcome Stony Brook to town for a three-game series starting tonight. If you can't find Reed, he'll be the guy in the glasses.
He likes the look, and especially the results.
“Baseball is a mental game. You are always going to have your ups and downs,'' Reed said. “You always have to have your mindset the same.
“No one obviously wants to go 1-for-14 in a home series. You've got to know who you are. You've got to be a team player even when you are down. I think I was trying to do too much because it's a new season, a new year, new players, new fans. I think I got out of who I was in the moment.”
