Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Mon May 29 19:34:19 2006

> > > This debate can go on and on, but here is something to make note of. If you try to do so, for the most part you have to sacrifice the outside slider, curve, splitter etc. The reason being is that in order to pull the ball the head of the bat has to be out early. This affords less time in judging other outside pitches. Examples Soriano in the playoffs against the Marlins. Andre Dawson in his last playoffs. Shawn Dunston through his career. Unless you are Ted Williams or a player with enormous strength standing very close to the plate forget about trying to pull every pitch. If 9 out of 10 times your best shot is not out of the park, don't do it. This is why Dave Kingman was a below 250 hitter. A player without Kingman's strength would not have been allow to last.
> >
> > Hi Hitting Guru,
> >
> > Perhaps these mechanics on Batspeed.com will help one pull outside pitcges will considerably more authority than pulling an insider pitch. Remember, the arc of the inside pitch is shorter than the outside pitch. This means that an outside slider will be pulled with considerably more authority than an inside slider (wider arc = batspeed). As far as .250 averages are concerned, Harmon killebrew hit in the range for a lifetime average. People do not care as much about .300 averages or strikeouts as they do about home runs or RBIs.
> >
> > This is just my take, though; feel free to disagree.
> >
> > Best,
> > BHL
>
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> BHL. No offense, but people do care about about .300 hitting and strikeouts. Just watch a Cub game and look at what not executing will get you. And in order to have RBIs, someone has to be on base, "Hello". Someone has to move runners into scoring position and drive in runners from third with less than 2 outs. How many times do we see a right hand batter ground out to the left side of the field with a runner on 2nd or 2nd and third with no outs. Also, too many times there is a runner on second with no one out and a fly ball is hit that does not advance the runner. That is purely pitiful. There used to be a day when with 2 strikes, the batter would choke up and or cut down his swing and just try to make contact. Just because there has been a tendency to lower standards does not make it right or acceptable.

Hi Hitman,

Why get on the base for someone else when you can hit home runs yourself using PFO, or have a pitcher walk you because he fears what will happen when he pitches to you?

Personally, I rather lead the league in strikeouts and be a Triple Crown Winner, or be near it (a la Babe Ruth), then strike out less times in a season than Joe Sewell, and compile ordinary numbers. Many players today seem to feel this way; in fact, a couple articles in "Baseball Digest" were written about it.

If people want to advance the batter, than just bunt. It is easy to master, and even power hitters like Dave Kingman employed it.

Have a safe Holiday,
BHL