Posted by: brumil (brumil2@hotmail.com) on Tue Jan 20 13:36:11 2004

The average fastpitch pitcher throws at about 73-76 mph while the top pitchers will throw in excess of 82-85mph but not every time (excluding changeups). The years before my retirement I kept tags on the top pitchers and they were throwing consistently about 78-80mph so I will use 80mph. In the major leagues the top fastballers (Randy Johnson, Clemons) will throw 93-98mph consistently. Now the baseball pitchers speed is not so important for reaction time as it is a comparison for what a fastpitch batter must face when he hits.
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> > > The distance for a fastpitch pitcher delivery point will be 40ft due to the fact that the release point is at the hip. Most pitchers hips are at about 6ft in front of the rubber on release, the distance for a baseball pitcher will be at 53ft since the release point is ahead of the front foot. You could argue this with me a bit but I will try to be on the side of caution.
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> > > An 80mph pitch is 117.33 ft/second which gives the batter standing 40ft from the release point .341 of a second to hit the ball. A 95mph pitch is 139.33 ft/sec, which gives the batter standing 53ft from the release point .380 of a second to hit the ball. A baseball pitcher would have to throw the ball 155.42 ft/sec to accomplish the .341 reaction time for the baseball batter. This equates to a 106 mph fastball.
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> > > An 60MPH pitch from 36ft is 88ft/sec which give the batter .409 of a second to hit the ball. Which would be about 88MPH. However the top pitchers throw about 65MPH and this would equate to a 96MPH pitch.
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> > Great numbers but I wonder when are those speeds being produced. Is it faster out of the pitchers hand or is it gaining or losing speed when it approaches the batter? That's why I believe that extra distance to pickup the ball in baseball vs. fp has to make hitting the baseball a little easier. Of course ball movement then throws a whole nother set of circumstances into the pot. Oh well, fun to talk about.
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> > A couple of variables which have been discussed in other forums may also apply:
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> 1) The FP batter sees the ball released from mid-thigh on an upward trajectory, which flattens and (normally) eventually moves down through the hitting zone. Obviously, the BB trajectory is straight down. Many feel the arcing trajectory of the FP pitch increases difficulty.
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> 2) Reaction time is similar, as documented. However, the greater the pitch speed, the less time the ball spends in the actual hitting zone, and the greater the timing challenge. To illustrate the point (w/ a ridiculous analogy) a ball fired at 300MPH from 190 feet would provide the same batter reaction time as a 95MPH pitch from 60 feet (+ / - .4 seconds). However, the 300MPH pitch would be in the hitting zone for such a tiny fraction of a second, that the possibility of well-timed contact is virtually nil. It would seem this fact would accentuate the challenge of hitting a baseball, because of the greater raw speed in that venue (especially comparing BB to Girl's FP).
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> 3) Many attach significance to the comparative size of the balls. Certainly, the surface area to weight ratio varies, and at least theoretically, allows more movement w/ the softball. On the other hand, the softballball is larger, which should make contact easier. But the softball bat circumfrence is smaller, and . . .
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> I have no knowledge of the statistical success for top batters in Men's FP. I do have some knowledge in Junior Olympic (Girl's) and NCAA FP. It seems to me that the comparison between NCAA BB and FP is illustrative. It is basically the highest widespread level of amateur play in both forums. And interestingly, the stats are similar. I find this quite interesting, because I find part of the beauty of BB and FP to be the scalability of the field for various ages and skill levels. Irrespective of dimension, gender, or skill level, a ball hit in the hole is a one-step play at 1B. A .300 BA is good. A .500 slug is good.
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> In NCAA D1 play, the top batting averages in both FP and BB are in the .450 range. Top slugging percentages in FP are around 1.000, and the top slug in D1 BB was .933. HR numbers slightly favor the men, as the women topped out at 25 HR (in a 60-70 game season). Although top pitchers remain dominant in FP, the average NCAA D1 game produced almost 8 runs in 2003 (aggregate, both teams). This is slightly below NCAA baseball, but it is trending up (and it's a 7 inning gamme vs. 9 innings).
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> Since production in the two venues is similar, I would conclude that the challenges of hitting are as well.
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> Anyway, it's a fun conversation over a beer. One thing I absolutely know is that the top JO and NCAA FP hitters are increasingly using rotational mechanics, CHP, and the techniques for generating torque taught by Jack and described on this board. There is absolutely no question that such technique is appropriate - optimal, really - for hitting in FP.
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> Regards,
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> Scott

Amen, brother!
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