Here's the latest Ryan Howard slump story. He does have a hit in each of his last four games, including a triple and homer, so he may already be breaking out. However, I like this story about Branch Rickey and Duke Snider:

My personal theory - hey, I was a high-school gap hitter - is that like a lot of tall hitters, he doesn't have a good knowledge of his very large strike zone. I'd like to see Manuel and batting coach Milt Thompson set up a simple drill that former Dodgers GM Branch Rickey devised to teach a flailing young outfielder named Duke Snider the strike zone. In "We Would Have Played For Nothing," Snider tells about Rickey bringing him to Vero Beach in 1948 for special instruction. There would be a pitcher, a catcher, an umpire, Rickey and several coaches, including the great George Sisler. Snider would be in the cage without a bat. His job was to call each pitch. Then the umpire would call it.

"I had to call every pitch," Snider said, "and it was amazing how many times I was wrong, [whether it was] a strike or a ball." He did it every day until his judgment improved enough that Rickey let him hit. But he had to tell Rickey where every pitch was after he hit it. Again, he was amazed at how many pitches he still called wrong. But Snider had demonstrated an ability to kill a lot of pitches just out of the strike zone. He was no longer swinging at balls too high, wide or inside to reach. Rickey's compromise was this: "Be ready to hit every pitch until you see it's a pitch you don't want to swing at."

Ryan draws a good amount of walks, so either pitchers throw so far off the plate it's obvious to anyone it's a ball, or Ryan already has pretty good judgement. Still, I'd love to see the results of this drill.