Posted by: Jack Mankin (mrbatspeed@aol.com) on Mon Apr 5 01:00:51 2004

>>> jack,

some questions for you. your statements/arguements are not documented.

Jack says … “Therefore, I see no benefit in allowing an outside pitch to get any deeper than one down the middle…”

What about :

if you take a normal stance with your feet placed so that optimal bat coverage is the center of the plate, then you must extend your hands to have the sweet spot of your bat reach the outside corner of the plate.

let's say that you decided to pull that pitch with say a 15 to 30 degree swing - what happens is that your top hand wrist (with the arms extended) is now, not in a position of strength. the further you extend and the further you pull, the more the wrist starts to break, with even a very strong potential to roll on contact.

try a simple experiment. take a dry swing simulating extending your arms to hit the outside pitch and pulling (15 degree pull). stop your bat at what would be the moment of contact with the ball. LOOK AT YOUR TOP HAND WRIST.
now, take a dry swing extending your arms, but this time simulate hitting the ball late by 15 degrees. stop your bat at the moment of contact. LOOK AT YOUR TOP HAND WRIST.
take it one step further and do the same swings, but this time as you stop your bat at the simulated moment of contact, have someone push on your bat back toward the catcher while you try to keep the bat where it is. in which position are your wrists stronger (pulling or late)?


Jack says… “Some of the longest homeruns ever recorded were on outside pitches hit straightaway or pulled to left center.”

which ones? by whom? what percentage of outside pitches? how does this compare to longest homeruns recorded on inside pitches?

Jack says… “Some of the games best hitters have moved a few inches farther from the plate and attack most balls as outside pitches.”

which ones? how do you know this? what percentage of good hitters do this?

Jack says… “If hitting the outside pitches, the other-way is the only way to go, why is a good percentage of their hits straightaway or to the pulled side?”

what ARE the percentages (outside pitch pulled vs. going the other way)? <<<

Hi Ray

Big Mac, for one, moved farther from the plate.

First of all, I do not, nor have I ever advocated pulling the ball - except to get the meat of the bat on the ball when jammed with a pitch. I have always maintained that regardless of pitch location, batters should practice timing their swings to hit the ball hard and straight-away (bat perpendicular to the path of the incoming ball). If the ball is met a little early - it will be hit to the pulled side - a little late – the ball is hit to the opposite field. The important thing is to hit the ball hard.

You stated, “let's say that you decided to pull that pitch with say a 15 to 30 degree swing - what happens is that your top hand wrist (with the arms extended) is now, not in a position of strength.” – Ray you seem to be describing a batter with linear transfer mechanics. A good rotational hitter using THT can rotate his shoulders 65 or 70 degrees and still reach the outside part of the plate with the meat of the bat. With this shoulder position his bat will be pointing at the second baseman (45+ degrees past perpendicular) when his back-arm reaches full extension. He only needs to rotate the bat 5 degrees past perpendicular to pull the ball left of center. From this contact position, the back-arm is not near full extension. – Granted, a batter with linear mechanics may reach full extension of the arms before the bat reaches perpendicular. I would agree he should think opposite field only.

It is your opinion that I am wrong and outside pitches can only be hit hard to the opposite field. You feel you have proved that long home runs to the pulled side of center is impossible for pitches on the outside part of the plate and therefore just a figment of my imagination. I sense that there is no prove I could offer that would satisfy you. Therefore, I suggest we just say as gentlemen, that we agree to disagree and let it go at that.

Jack Mankin