Posted by: Jimmy () on Sun Dec 2 11:20:13 2007

Actually to go even further...we don't want hitters to just swing at strikes, we want them to swing at strikes that we can hammer.

In other words, before two strikes hitters should not swing at a pitch at the knees and on the black just because it's a strike. I would rather be 0-1 in the count than 0 for 1 in my at-bats. Get a good pitch to hit, not just a strike.

When the hitter has two strikes, then that pitch on the black needs to be put in play. Make the pitcher earn his outs with three quality pitches not just one.(not easy for him to do without making a mistake in there)

The one thing that you may be confused on is the strike zone.

The pitch has to cross over the plate for the horizontal portion of the zone but for the vertical portion of the zone the pitch height is not judged until it reaches the hitters body.

So if the hitter is at the back edge of the box, the pitch that crosses the plate at knee height but crosses the hitter at his ankles is NOT a strike.

This is why hitters stand toward the back of the box, they take full advantage of time and distance from pitchers hand to strike zone.

I will address the weight of the bat in my next post.

Jimmy