The good times have returned for Cory Snyder.
No more negative thoughts. No more allegations that he can't hit major league pitching, can't get along with hitting coaches, or that he's washed up.All that, thanks in part to a 30-minute videotape.
No, not one of those self-motivation tapes advertised on late-night television.
Just a tape of his glory years with the Cleveland Indians, especially the 1988 season when he batted a career-high .272 with 26 home runs and 75 runs batted in.
With a little encouragement from San Francisco Giants hitting coach-optimist Dusty Baker, Snyder has put all the once-lost ingredients together and resurrected his career.
In the process, he's become the best find in the Giants' search for a clean-up hitter and one of the bargain investments of the 1992 season. He joined the team as a non-roster player and earns $500,000 in base pay.
In his last 19 games, Snyder has hit seven doubles, a triple, four homers and 16 RBI. The Giants love his versatility as an outfielder and infielder. As a bonus, Snyder is batting .314.
"He's showed me a lot," said outfielder Chris James, who played with Snyder in Cleveland during the 1990 season. "In spring training, he was hungry. It tells a lot about a person. He's gone from the point of almost being out of baseball to playing every day in the National League."
Snyder has seen both ends of the spectrum. He was a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and averaged 28 home runs and 75 RBIs during his first three major league seasons with Cleveland, but he was traded to the Chicago White Sox after the 1990 season and to Toronto during the 1991 season before being sent to the minors and then released.
Realizing his career was at stake, Snyder relied on the tape as a guide during the off-season while seeking to dispel negative labels placed on him. He had differences with batting instructors Jose Morales in Cleveland and Walt Hriniak with the Chicago White Sox but said the disagreements were more because of inflexibility by the coaches.
"I didn't bring it on myself," Snyder said. "I was coachable from the time I was called up. I listened and tried too much."
In fact, Snyder attended Hriniak's hitting school after the 1989 season, only to be told by Morales back in Cleveland that those techniques wouldn't work.
Sensing his days in Cleveland were numbered, Snyder asked a Cleveland video coordinator to compile his highlights. He didn't utilize the tape until this past off-season, though.
"I'd watch it in the morning and try to emulate my swing," Snyder said. "After I watched it, I recalled the mental attitude."
It was a comfortable feeling. His batting stance, how to hit certain pitches. It all returned. No one had to tell Snyder how to swing. It was all on tape.
Snyder respects Hriniak's theories, but because Snyder has such a big swing he said it was hard to put them to use, even in the half-season he spent in Chicago.
"It turns out all I had to do was relax and go back to the basics."
A little help from Baker didn't hurt.
"With Bobby Bonds and Dusty Baker, there's some give and take," Snyder said, referring to his first batting coach in Cleveland as well as his present hitting instructor.
The Giants hope Snyder's hitting streak represents a permanent comeback.
"I want him to ride a wave to the beach and not worry about falling off," Baker said. "I hope he's on his way so I can go onto the next guy."