Chicago
Cubs Major League Hitting Instructor Jeff Pentland is considered
to be one of the best hitting instructors in professional baseball.
Credited by most with harnessing the potential of “Sammy Sosa”, Jeff
transformed Sosa into not only one the games most prolific power hitters,
but one who can hit for average and drive in runs as well.
Jeff received
both his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Arizona State University.
At ASU, his degrees consisted of a concentration in “biomechanics”
which contributed to his background knowledge of the “physics side”
of hitting. After spending the 1973-74 school year as an assistant
athletic director at Wichita State University, he served as assistant
baseball coach at University of California-Riverside for 9 years,
where they won 2 national championships while he was there. Jeff returned
to ASU to become hitting coach in 1983, where he helped develop major
league hitters, Barry Bonds, Mike Devereaux, Pat Listach, Fernando
Vina, and Ken Landreaux.
Jeff entered the professional ranks in the
Florida Marlins Organization in 1992 as a scout. He became hitting
coach for Elmira(A) in 1993-94, and later became hitting coach for
Portland, ME (AA) from 1995 until his promotion to the majors. Jeff
was promoted to the Marlins Major League Hitting Instructor for the
second half of the 1996 season. He was the Mets' Minor League
Hitting Coordinator for 1997 season.
After the leaving the Mets, Jeff
became the Cubs Major League Hitting Instructor, where is now is currently
employed. The OHA is proud to welcome Jeff Pentland with his years
of experience and instruction as one of the feature baseball writers.