Posted by: josh (jsorge5126@aol.com) on Sat Apr 15 21:06:40 2000

Hi Josh
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> >>>I do however belive that (and I hope you concur) that the hands should stay somewhere bewteen the path of the ball and the body.<<<
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> I think the term "keep your hands inside the ball" is a Red Herring. I have never seen a batters hands come even close the balls line of flight except when the hitter is really jammed. With the poorest swing the hands never get within 18 inches of the ball on outside pitches.
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> Would you not agree that the hands are further from the ball at contact when the bat is perpendicular than it would be if the bat head were trailing by a few degrees?
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> >>>Now, correct me if i'm wrong, if hitters make contact with outside pitches with the bat perpendicular with balls on the outside half, wouldn't the flight of the ball be directed towards the middle of the field? the bat angle is such that the ball would have nowhere else to go. if so, i want that guy hitting with a runner on 1st base and less than two outs so he can keep the ball in the middle to turn a double play (we get guys to roll over pitches on the outside half all the time to turn two who practice what you're advocating). <<<
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> Josh, I would agree that with the linear mechanics being taught the batter may very well hit a weak grounder trying to get around on an outside pitch. But a batter with good mechanics can drive an outside pitch as well as an inside one. This is why you would think twice before having him slap one behind the runner.
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> >>>Power guys get away with hitting HRs the other way because the generate enough torgue to begin with (Belle, Griffey, ARod, Ramirez, your basic baseball freaks of nature, etc). But, your mere mortals rarely do it because they can't get the bat going as fast on outside pitches.<<<
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> What you wrote above points out just how different we view the art of hitting. You seem to think that great hitters were just blessed with some magical power -- there just " your basic baseball freaks of nature." --- I see them as good athletes with great mechanics. Average athletes with great mechanics will outperform great athletes with average mechanics ever time.
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> Jack Mankin
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> Jack,

Like I mentioned before, I don't think it's possible to actually have the hitter's hands go "around the flight of the ball'' I agree that the term is taken too literally. However, they will drift away from the body in an attempt to pull pitches middle out. I believe that the term has become a verbal cue to hitters in an attempt to remind them to not push the hands away from the body as the upper and lower half rotates towards contact. I am still puzzled how a hitter can drive a ball the other way when the bat is perpendicular to the path of the pitch. Once again, bat angle dictates WHERE the ball is hit. I hope I'm not missing something, but I have seen it clip after clip, frame by frame, done it myself in the past as a player, and see it everyday with our own hitters. Please clarify. By the way, when I said "freaks of nature," I intended to imply the stronger, more powerful hitters in the game, not those with some "magical powers."

Josh