P-Nats' Moore keeping it simple, posting career year

Potomac Nationals first baseman Tyler Moore continues to have a career year with 28 homers and 102 RBI, guiding the P-Nats to challenge for the Northern Division title in the second half of the season. The franchise record for RBI is 113 by Troy Farnsworth in 2000. Moore has 16 games remaining to break that record. It is hard to believe this is the same guy that was hitting .195 almost three months into the season. Since then, he has hit 18 homers and won the Carolina Player of the Week honors three times. Potomac Nationals manager Gary Cathcart says Moore turned it around by clearing his head, "he really simplified things before the streak. He is a big, strong country boy. He likes to keep things simple and just play the game. I think he would be the first to admit he got things a little too complicated at home plate." Moore agrees, "I just try to go up there and not really think about anything, honestly. In the first half I would go up there and think about where my hands were, what it all looked like, trying to compete with the pitcher, instead of keeping it simple. Now it helps to just try to take the edge out whenever you start thinking about stuff and bear down." Cathcart says he sat down with Moore to help him out during that struggling start. "We had a talk, not too much before that streak started. We are going to make some adjustments here. You drove in 90 RBI last year. You went up to the plate with a purpose last year. You weren't worried about your mechanics. He got two hits that night and came in and said, 'Gee, I wish you had told me this two months ago.' "Sometimes we let you guys figure things out too. It is also my job to pick and choose the spots where we I think what I say would help. That two or three week stretch in the middle of July was unbelievable." Moore says he learned a lot about what it takes to be a good baseball player while at Mississippi State from former Bulldogs coach Ron Polk. "He teaches a lot of patience. He is a very patient man. He stuck with me through thick and thin. He teaches you a lot of stuff, not just about baseball but about life. The biggest thing he taught me was probably patience and believing in yourself." You can see that patience paying dividends for Moore as he rides the wave of a career year.