Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Fri May 26 03:36:40 2006

> >i dont understand why someone one would exclusively teach pull hitting? why would a coach want to limit his hitters to only use 1/3 of the field? a smart coach would realize that the hitter's batting average would go up by using the whole field, not just the pull side..also, dont we want our hitters to try and "see" the ball as long as possible? when a hitter is taught to pull, arent you basically telling the hitter be "out in front", as oppossed to letting the ball get to the hitting zone, or front hip, then attacking?
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> BHL and all of you who believe in his ridiculous Pull Hit Theory on this site, in case you haven't already read it, go get last week's SI with Pujols on the cover. Read the article on Pujols "Swing of Beauty" and then explain to the rest of us why the greatest hitter today in baseball actually trains to avoid "pulling the ball?"
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> > Here are some quotes from the article for the linguistic genius (BHL)to chew on.
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> > Cardinals first base coach Dave McKay, Pujols's personal BP pitcher during the season, often pitches him exclusively away.
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> > "From the very first day we saw him in camp, he wasn't whaling," McKay says. "He'll ask me to pitch him away, away, so he can concentrate on seeing the ball.
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> > Pujols asks, "What are we doing?" Mihlfeld replies, "Some hit-and-run," and pinpoints 20 minutes' worth of fastballs on the outside corner. Pujols hits almost every one to rightfield, exhaling in short, sharp bursts -- Whew! Whew! -- that ripple his upper lip as he makes contact. "He'll go four or five weeks before he pulls the ball," Mihlfeld says.
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> > So BHL and your small contingency of supporters, please come back on and instead of telling ME (us) how wrong we are about your Pull Hitting Theory or sharing with us some ridiculous statistics and BIG words...come back on and tell us all what Albert Pujols is doing wrong by trying NOT to be a pull hitter? Would think the greatest hitter today in baseball would not want to avoid pulling the ball if in fact HE thought it would help him?
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> > P.S.- The P.S. as BHL always does assuming we hadn't heard enough of him already...uh...your expert thoughts on this???

Hi Joe,

I think that whether or not one wants to pull the ball should be left up to the individual, and not the coach. As a scholar, I am rather perturbed by allowing another person to think for a person. Making decisions, such as whether or not one wants to a PFO, should be decided by the individual, not the coach.

Best,
BHL