Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Thu Apr 22 20:28:13 2004

Hi Everybody,

Batspeed creates the most damage when it is at full acceleration upon hitting the ball. Perhaps, this may account for why a retiree, Jose Canseco, once hit a ball 510 feet at the Home Run Challenge in Las Vegas, yet only recorded a batspeed acceleration of 88 mph.

Now, who has the fastest batspeed? Well, facts show that Sammy Sosa accelerated his lever-arm to 100 mph consistently in a 1999 Home Run Derby contest at Fenway, yet only hit one first round home run, as opposed to Mac's 13, who swung the bat 6 mph slower, yet centered the ball perfectly. However, the Cardinal legend came within 1 mph of reaching Sammy's batspeed one year prior, when he hit Dennis Martinez's outside fastball 509 feet over the centerfield backdrop.

I believe that Griffey and Bonds had a batspeed of 96 mph prior to 1998, though Bond's unwasted stroke might have earned him a few more mph as far as batspeed is concerned today.

Jeff Bagwell and Jeromy Burnitz have also attained batspeeds in the low 90's.

As for the rest of the hitters, I would need more information.

Please remember, though, that in order to hit a home run, you need to generate early batspeed, hit the ball on a slight upswing, and make contact with the sweetspot of the bat.

BHL