Posted by: BHL (Knight1285@aol.com) on Sat Apr 21 22:27:42 2007

> > Hey, when Ted said he didn't swing at the first pitch, was he talking about the first pitch of the first at-bat in a game or all at-bats?
>
> I think he meant the first pitch of the first at bat. He said he never swung at a pitch until he saw one. So this can mean taking the first slider you see or the first curve ball as well. He said he wnated to see the pitch first. So if a relief pitcher came in I guess he wnated to see his pitches as well.

Hi Shawn,

You rightly point out that Ted Williams believed that one should always take the first pitch, or never swing at a pitch that one has not seen. Nevertheless, also said the 1/20 of the time he "took at a cut at the first pitch" whenever pitchers were lobbing batting practice pitches over the plate. This latter action also forces pitchers to show batter their authentic repotoire while on the mound, thereby helping a batter evaluate the pitcher's strengths and weaknesses.

Best,
BHL
Knight1285@aol.com