Denard Span listens to cassette of Maury Wills to improve baserunning

Only because Humble Pie’s “Rockin’ the Fillmore” was totally jammed in the 8-track player.

Denard Span knows a thing or two about the latest technology.

The Minnesota Twins center fielder has a slick cell phone, watches videos in high definition and listens to music in the newest formats.

So it’s interesting that, over the offseason, Span went old school to try to improve his baserunning and increase his stolen base percentage.

Span listened to a cassette tape - not a CD, not an MP3, not a download - of former Dodgers great and base-stealing extraodinaire Maury Wills to pick up some tips on getting better.

“The way he talks about it, you can just visualize it,” Span said. “It’s easy. He makes it plain and easier so even a high school player could understand it. “The little stuff I kind of knew, but to hear a great base stealer talk about it, it helped a lot.”