- Error
| 20 April 2010
At the urging of manager Lou Piniella, the Cubs Alfonso Soriano says he will abandon the hop he does prior to catching a ball in the outfield. However, Soriano is nervous that switching to a more traditional technique of catching fly balls will greatly hamper his full defensive potential.
"If Lou wants me to stop hopping, I'll try to stop," said an apprehensive Soriano. "It's just ......an everyday major league outfielder can simply stand there without hopping and probably catch a pop fly. Who wants to see that? I don't understand it. If I can't showcase my skills and put on a show for the fans, then why am I even out there? The Cubs aren't paying me $17 million to be an everyday major league outfielder. People want to see me do something cool."
Soriano says if his defense suffers from trying to be fundamentally sound, or as he calls it "boring and dumb", he will undoubtedly return to his old ways.
"Yeah, if my defense falls off from Lou's dumb idea, I'll bring the hop back. I may even work in a couple skips, or even a cartwheel before the hop. I'm not really sure, but it doesn't matter. I don't care that much about playing defense anyway."
Alfonso Soriano Will Finally Stop That Stupid Hop (Bleacher Nation)
Defensive Soriano says he'll drop the hop (The Sporting News)
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