Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Sat Mar 18 20:44:05 2006

> > > So when you crowd the plate and look to come around/pull the FB on the outer half, what happens when you get a 98 mph two seamer on the inner black? The reality is, your picking up your thumbs as you attempt to trot back to the dugout.
> > >
> > > Hitting is hard...simple solutions like pulling all pitches DON'T work. I honestly think that anyone the buys into this has never ACTUALLY hit the ball to the opposite field with any pop...have any of you hit a HR in a game to the opposite field? Have any of you been at the plate, runner at 2nd base 2 out, open base, you've proven you can handle the pitchers FB, you know he has a base for you (doesn’t have to come after you) you know he's going breaking ball away, most likely down...looking for a roll over GB to the pull side to get him in the dugout...you get the breaking ball, it stays up in the zone you wait, you stay inside, square up the bat-head, go back spin line drive one hope the fence in right center?
> > >
> > > Hitting the ball to the opposite field with power is a learned skill that many players are not willing to work at being able to do...I didn’t fully understand how to do it until my last year of organized baseball...its enlightening, it what makes a guy want to coach.
> > >
> > > "I offer is a way out of instructional tyranny?" There are no shortcuts in baseball or in hitting; if you get so caught up in learning the TRICKS of the trade you will never learn the trade.
> >
> > Hi S.Winton:
> >
> > As SBK had pointed out, people who crowd the plate put themselves in a better position to cover outside pitches. This will assist PFO.
> >
> > Cheers!
> > BHL
>
> also people who crowd the plate, especially at higher levels, put themselves in a position of receiving a fastball in their ear...

Hi grc,

I haven't heard from you in a while. It's nice to hear from you again.

Yes, I agree that it takes courage to stand on the plate, but you have to take the following two factors into account: 1) Bud Selig loves offense, and 2) the commissioner will levy heavy fines for retaliatory baseball. Besides, Mark McGwire, who stood far off the plate, still pulled outside pitches, including his record-breaking sixty-second home run.

Unlike Roger Clemmens, some pitchers must contend with budgetary concerns, since, as Reggie Jackson noted, "It's become a business with us," or, to paraphrase Mike Epstein, only 1/10 of the top hitters and pitchers establish themselves economically. Unlike Clemmens, whose autograph shows are wholly unnecessary to thrive fiscally, certain pitchers, such as Bruce Chen, might have to book autograph shows to as an insurance measure. Seen in this pictorial sense, a dominating pitcher like Clemmens could careless how much money a stray fastball costs him; however, a journeyman like Chen must take these into things into consideration.

Also, we must deal with bell of a bell-shaped curve, and not its skewed ends. Perhaps not all hitters can crowd the plate and try to pull all pitches against the like of a Greg Maddux breaking pitch, or a 100+ mph Billy Wagner fastball. The exceptional starter or closer are either the touted phenom or the one-inning specialist, though. Most of time individuals will likely face a pitcher who tops out at 90, features a solid (not exceptional) repetoire, and gives up five, six, or seven earned runs a game. Pulling all their pitches will inflate their ERAs to an even greater degree. And their 85 mph fastball might hurt, but not as much as a hard reliever averaging mid-90's in velocity. Talent does exist, but it is not omnipresent.

Perhaps people might be slightly archaic, antiquated, or anachronistic (whichever synonym these choose to epitomize themselves), but the fact is we have progressed quite a ways from the ballists with the "hit them where they ain't mentality."

Thanks for the feedback grc,
Best
BHL