Throughout the first half of the 2010 season, UT outfielder P.J. Polk has redefined what it means to be the leadoff hitter.
Polk, who has batted No. 1 in the Vols’ lineup for the vast majority of the season, excels in the leadoff hitter’s primary function: getting on base.
The UT junior in sport management posted an on-base percentage of .377 in 2008 and .357 in 2009, but his OBP has made a major jump in 2010 to .487 after Saturday play.
And it makes sense when one considers Polk’s main objective when he steps up to the plate.
“I just take pride in getting on base,” he said. “I feel like that’s my part on the team that I have to bring every game. I may not get a hit every game, but hopefully I get a walk, get hit by a pitch, do something to get on base.”
The Oakland High School graduate attributed his rise in OBP to experience.
“I pay more attention to the pitchers’ tendency and have a better idea of what they’re going to throw me,” he said. “Once I get something I want to hit, I don’t miss as much as I did last year and in my freshman year.”
First baseman Cody Hawn describes Polk as a consummate leadoff man.
“P.J.’s our sparkplug, no doubt about it,” Hawn said. “He starts everything for us, and he’s on fire right now. We couldn’t really ask more from what he’s been doing.”
Hawn highlighted Polk’s speed and ability to take pitches.
“You got a guy (Polk) that can score from first to home,” Hawn said. “He’s one of the fastest guys in the SEC, makes you feel good because the pitcher’s gotta worry about him. You see more fastballs out of it. He seems like he’s always on.”
Yet Polk excels in more than just getting on base — blasting homers and slugging his way to the top of the team. When asked about the prospect of moving down in the order to accommodate his power, Polk was reluctant during his April 6 interview with The Daily Beacon.
“There’s always a chance, but right now I feel pretty comfortable in the leadoff spot, and like I said, those guys in the middle that’s hitting for us, they’re going to get the job done,” he said. “I think that keeping me at leadoff is going to help the balance of the team in the long run.”
Yet after an April 7 loss to Western Carolina, UT head coach Todd Raleigh drastically shook up the lineup for the weekend series against No. 8 Florida — one of the biggest moves being dropping Polk from the No. 1 slot to No. 3.
The No. 3 slot is the position usually reserved for a team’s best hitter, and statistically, going into the Florida series, Polk was just that, leading the team in OBP, slugging percentage and runs scored.
Yet days before the switch, Polk was sure that his place was leading off, not batting third.
“I don’t really think my job is hitting home runs on the team,” Polk said. “I just really want to get on base, and let the other guys knock them in.”
But regardless of job titles, Polk is hitting homers. He leads the team with seven, already eclipsing his HR totals in 2008 (five) and 2009 (three).
The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native was not sure what was the source of his power.
“Probably just a little more strength,” he said. “I’m healthier this year. That has a lot to do with it. But I don’t know.”
Some of Polk’s homers are even surprising to him, like the second homer he hit in an April 3 game against Ole Miss.
Polk was not expecting any more fastballs that day, yet he got one, and he took advantage by driving a second roundtripper in that game. But even then he didn’t think he hit the ball out of the park.
“I came out of the box pretty hard, looking for a double, just trying to get down the line,” he said. “And it just kept carrying and kept carrying and before you know, it was over the fence.”
The two-homer day helped net Polk two awards that week — the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week award and his second SEC Player of the Week award.
But even when musing on his personal accomplishments about the plate, Polk thinks of the team.
“I was hoping (the homers) would spark our team, so that we’d get the win that day, and I think it played a part in doing so,” he said.
He’s third on the team in runs batted in with 25, but the two men who are ahead of him — Hawn and catcher Blake Forsythe — have spent the majority of the season in the middle of the order, while Polk was leading off. So Hawn and Forsythe have had more run-producing chances with men on base than Polk.
Polk is also riding a 13-game hitting streak, going into Sunday’s action.

Speed kills

Since high school, teammates of Polk have compared him to such major-league players as Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, B.J. Upton, Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez. What do all these players have in common? Speed.
And speed is a natural attribute that Polk is taking more advantage of in 2010.
Before Sunday’s game, Polk had stolen 17 bases out of 21 attempts.
In 2008, Polk stole just three in four attempts, while he stole seven in seven attempts in 2009.
Polk said an offseason talk with Raleigh has led to him risking more on the basepaths.
“I’m being more aggressive, taking more chances,” he said. “I’ve been thrown out too, but that hasn’t stopped me.”
Coaches pushed Polk to be more willing to run and not simply stay at first base.
“I think they drilled that into me during fall practice and spring practice, so that now, in a game, it’s just natural for me to want to steal and get to the next base,” he said.

Born to play outfield

While Polk had to learn to steal naturally, the outfield was always his place of work, dating back to his days in tee ball when he was about five years old.
“Ever since I started playing, they’ve pretty much stuck me in the outfield, let me run out there,” he said. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve been an outfielder.”
He’s played every game this season in the outfield, mostly in left field, though he did play some center field when Josh Liles was injured.
Polk outlined the fundamental differences in approach to fielding left field and center field.
With center field, he said there’s more ground to cover, and the fielder is able to get a true read on the ball. Over at left, his usual stomping grounds, it gets a bit more tricky.
“I’ve learned, in left field, the ball cuts a lot,” he said. “You don’t really get a straight ball hit at you. I’ve just taken numerous flyballs at that position, just learning how the ball’s going to cut, where the ball’s going to end up.”
And at Lindsey Nelson Stadium, with its tall porch, no Ichiro Suzuki-like acrobatics at the wall will save home runs.
“Once you get back there (to the left-field fence) and it’s over your head, it’s a home run,” he said.

Like father, like son

His earliest memories of baseball remind him of his father Michael Polk.
Father and son have a love for baseball in common, as well as a name. P.J. Polk’s given name is also Michael Polk. He picked up the nickname P.J., standing for Polk Jr., from his mother.
“Originally that wasn’t supposed to stick,” he said. “I was supposed to be known as Michael, but whenever she would call or holler for me or my dad, she’d say, ‘Michael,’ and we’d both have to come to her. So when I was little, she started calling me P.J., and it just kinda stuck. So now today just about everybody knows me as P.J.”
As Polk grew up, his dad threw batting practice to him in the backyard or hit flyballs for Polk to catch.
Polk credited his father for enabling him to play travel ball every summer and getting him on the best teams with top competition.
“He played a major role in helping me get to UT and helping me be the player I am today,” Polk said.
Polk’s father pushed him to improve his skills, which led to a mother-father dynamic where the father, an engineering technician, might use tough love while mother Jackie, a second-grade teacher at Siegel Elementary, consoles.
“Growing up, whenever my dad would get on me and try to get me better, she would ... tell me it’s going to be alright and be the shoulder I could lean on,” Polk said.
Even today, Polk’s father drives him to excel and has plenty of advice.
He attends most home weekend games, but even when he’s not in attendance, he has a few pointers. Hearing on the radio that his son popped up twice or hit two weak flyballs might prompt him to talk to Polk about dropping his shoulders and having an uppercut.
“It’s kinda weird,” Polk said. “He knows exactly what I’m doing wrong at the plate, and he doesn’t even have to see me in person.”
The well-rounded Polk played football, basketball and baseball extensively, and he played football and baseball throughout high school.
When it came time to choose which sport to pursue in college, he conferred with his father and eventually chose baseball.
“Sometimes I don’t like to listen to what he’s got to say,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Dad, c’mon now,’ but he definitely knows what he’s talking about.”