Because I worked with Jacque Jones in the offseason, I get a lot of credit for his hitting performance this season. But Jones deserves a tip of the cap for making it happen, not me.

I recently did a piece on him on "Baseball Tonight," and he called me the next day. I said, "Look, man, I'm not trying to take any credit. They asked me what I told you, and I told them about the tee." He got a big kick out of that.

	Jacque Jones Left Field Minnesota Twins Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI AVG OBP SLG 134 25 76 .295 .336 .508

Jacque lives in San Diego and has been working out at San Diego State in the offseason for the last few years. Knowing I was at the school as a volunteer coach, he asked me if I would help him improve as a hitter. He felt like he could be a good player, and he openly knew there was something about hitting that he didn't understand. He said, "Tony, I need you to talk to me about hitting and what I'm doing."

He brought some tapes from his rookie season and some tapes from last year. As a rookie, he was able to handle the outside pitch -- and hit some home runs. But last year he tried to pull the ball too much.

He needed to learn how to handle the outside pitch again. So in talking to him and watching him swing, I asked him a simple question: "How do you handle a ball away?" I got a tee, placed it between his stance on the outside corner, and said, "Show me how you handle that pitch."

That's all I did. Once he started to handle that ball well, I left him alone. I would soft-toss wiffle balls with him as well. But everyday, he and Travis Lee, another offseason regular, would come back and hit off the tee and soft-toss to each other. They were diligent about working at their craft. I stood nearby and watched them every now and then, but for the most part Jacque worked hard to understand his swing.

The tee is a wonderful hitting tool. Even though the tee can't speak, it can tell a hitter a lot about himself. That is what Jacque found out. If I let Jacque work on his own, he would take 1,000 swings. But I told him, "It's not the quantity; it's the quality."

Jacque just needed to learn to attack the ball the right way. If he could handle the ball away, he could then handle the inside pitch a lot better. He has hit 25 home runs this season -- eight have gone to the opposite field and two to straight-away center.

This season he has proved to himself -- not to anybody else -- that he could be a successful major-league hitter. I've seen Jacque play about 15-20 games. When Jacque slumps, he is usually being too aggressive and trying to pull everything. He will hit the ball out in front instead of "backing it up" -- letting it come to him deeper in his stance. But then he recognizes what he did and makes the adjustment. Before this season, he would keep doing the same thing.

When Jacque is hot, he will back up the ball and hit it to left-center field with authority. At the same time, he starts handling the inside pitch a lot easier. The key for Jacque is to let things happen instead of making things happen.

The next step for Jacque is to be more selective and patient at the plate. He has only drawn 33 walks. He needs to be patient, work the count, get good pitches to hit, and put them in play.

Even though he is playing his fourth major-league season, he is still learning. As his at-bats begin to pile up, so will his experience. He will start remembering how pitchers attack him, what they will throw him in certain situations, and where they will pitch him. When he is ahead in the count, Jacque will then start looking for a particular pitch and take a pitch if he doesn't get what he wants.

Although Jacque is hitting leadoff for the Twins, he doesn't have leadoff-type numbers (.336 OBP, six steals). But I'm sure the Twins are more than happy with his production. In time, if he continues to hit leadoff, they will want him to be more patient, walk more, improve his on-base percentage and steal more bases. We'll have to wait and see if they keep him at the top of the order or move him down.

In the offseason, I expect to see Jacque back at San Diego State, trying to build on what he did this season. He will remember what he did when he was hitting well and when he was slumping. He needs to remain diligent and work at his craft. Even though I'm now the head coach instead of a volunteer, it will be harder for me to spend time with him and Travis. But since they are friends of San Diego State, we will need to work something out.

Tony Gwynn, who will take over as the head baseball coach at San Diego State next year, is working as an analyst for ESPN.