Posted by: Joe A. () on Fri Jul 13 08:39:16 2001

RECENTLY AT A BATTING CAGE I OBSERVED THIS COLLEGE KID KILLING THE BALL, HIS SWING LOOKED GREAT WITH A GREAT FOLLOW THROUGH, I ASKED HIM HOW HE LEARNED TO HIT LIKE THAT HE SAID HIS HIGH SCHOOL COACH TOLD HIM TO PRETEND THE BALL WAS A TOMATOE AND THE SWEET PART OF THE BAT WAS A MACHETE AND TO TRY TO SLICE RIGHT THROUGH IT, HE SAID THINKING THIS HE HAS MADE BETTER CONTACT WITH THE SWEET PART OF THE BAT, BECAUSE AN INSIDE PITCH HE HAS TO PULL AND AN OUTSIDE PITCH HE HAS TO GO THE OTHER WAY AND SLICING THROUGH IT HAS GIVEN HE GREAT EXTENSION, HE SAID HE HAS TO LET GO WITH THE TOP HAND AND I KNOW THAT CHARLIE LAU JR SAID IF YOU ARE EXTENDING RIGHT YOU WILL LET GO WITH THE TOP HAND, ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS THEORY OF SLICING THROUGH THE TOMATOE.

Jim,

Yeah, I have some thoughs on that. First, just because you see people hitting machine pitched balls dosen't mean they can hit. I have pitched to kids through a machine and I would fear for my life because of the line drives. Then they go 0-fer-April against live pitching. Some of these guys go to the cages to make an impression.

Stand around some commerical pitching machine places and listen to parents saying "Oh, little Johnny can hit so well here, why can't he do it in a game." It might be becasue the ball is pitched at the same speed to the same place and little Johnny isn't afraid of getting hit with the ball, the little wiennie.

Any way, if all you had to do is tell a kid to pretend he is slicing a tomato to get him to hit, there would be all 900 hitters.