"Proper Thinking"

Today, a former SRJC player, U of Oklahoma and Detroit Tiger, now a Pro Scout for a Japan Team, stopped by at our house.

A real story of “proper thinking” in the game of baseball. A young player would hit .400 after this verbal clinic.
Bob

Adbono

at what age will a young hitter understand this conversation with Ted and Tony? The Jc coaches in California and Texas teach the rules of hitting.

Bob

OK, let's look at this. Since I can remember hitting a baseball was called the hardest thing to do in sports. That was back in the day when Ryan, Johnson, The Rocket where outliers and 87-92 was the norm. Now you have a collage pitcher hitting 105.5 and 70 something pro pitchers hitting 100 mph. That has reduced the reaction time to almost impossible levels. So their conversation has meaning to the lower levels of baseball, beyond that....

Choke the bat, set up the pitcher, go deep in the box. Bob Gibson threw in the high 90’s and he threw up and in. I can recall watching a “blur”

Bob

Baseball dad

Baseball is a game of adjustments. The 99 mph fastball does not move, it is straight,  a hitter listens to the sound. Launch angle means zero. Watch Tony and Ted, both had short, quick swings they analyze the pitcher.

think about it, what would you do. Get a good pitch to hit, one that does not fool you,

Bob

Clemens was interviewed during a game a few weeks ago and said that "good hitters will get wood on a bullet."

It's funny to me how people want to argue this. One only needs to look at stats for the last however many years and look at the rise in pitching velocity and the corresponding drop in batting average. Also, common sense. It takes a certain amount of time to pick up the ball, decided ball or strike, start firing the nerves accordingly and get the bat into the path of the ball, I don't care how much you choke up. And it's not just "catching up" to the FB. If you knew that's all he was going to throw then yes, you could commit earlier, problem is a pitcher is allowed to throw off-speed, which throws a hugh monkey wrench into things.

@Consultant posted:

Bob Gibson threw in the high 90’s and he threw up and in. I can recall watching a “blur”

Bob

You're proving my point. Why do we remember him? Because he was almost unhittable. Again, now days he'd be a JAG.

Does the word "launch angle" define the low BA.

Have you read "October 64" by David Halberstam, one of the great baseball and history authors.

Bob

@Consultant posted:

Adbono

at what age will a young hitter understand this conversation with Ted and Tony? The Jc coaches in California and Texas teach the rules of hitting.

Bob

Good point. Young hitters typically don’t take a good approach to the plate until early in their college career. And launch angle is a flawed approach to hitting that absolutely contributes to lower batting averages and more strike outs. There is no world where Bob Gibson would be just another guy and @SomeBaseballDad is arguing his point with someone that has forgotten more about baseball than he will ever know.

Amen. The great hitters were always questioning pitchers.
why, when, how, where and what?

Bob

Adbono;

With the current quality of talent of JC Baseball, I think that the NJCAA winning team should play the California Champion. TV will present the talent level to a new level. Sam Suplizio and I discussed this at our Area Code Games.

Bob

@Consultant posted:

Adbono;

With the current quality of talent of JC Baseball, I think that the NJCAA winning team should play the California Champion. TV will present the talent level to a new level. Sam Suplizio and I discussed this at our Area Code Games.

Bob

I think that’s a great idea. I have often wondered why California Jucos aren’t part of the NJCAA. Why is that?

Adbono;

1937 the NJCAA was founded in Fresno, California. NJCAA  is located in North Carolina.

California is a separate organization in 1938, currently with 108 schools and 26,000 athletes.

Bob

I know you might push back on me for this comment but my son is in HS and could hit Bob Gibson. No question about it.  If Gibson went up and in on him, Bob Gibson would get hit. Trust me.  

@IAmThatGuy posted:

I know you might push back on me for this comment but my son is in HS and could hit Bob Gibson. No question about it.  If Gibson went up and in on him, Bob Gibson would get hit. Trust me.  

No push back from me. Bob Gibson is no longer alive so your son would have a chance.

@SomeBaseballDad posted:

You're proving my point. Why do we remember him? Because he was almost unhittable. Again, now days he'd be a JAG.

if you put the baddest samurai against the lowest Navy Seal, the modern day guy would just shoot him with his sidearm and be done with it. 

What makes you think Gibson wouldn't take advantage of the modern training techniques  if he were in his prime now?  no way of proving it but i think he'd be pretty unhittable if he played today but was also able to use modern training and technology

Bob Gibson was a very skilled College basketball player and the Harlem Globetrotters wanted to sign him. He was "feared" with his mental toughness.

No Coach can teach "mental toughness". It is acquired with a competitive desire to "WIN"!

Bob

@Consultant posted:

Bob Gibson was a very skilled College basketball player and the Harlem Globetrotters wanted to sign him. He was "feared" with his mental toughness.

No Coach can teach "mental toughness". It is acquired with a competitive desire to "WIN"!

Bob

I didn’t know until today that Bob Gibson was Josh Gibson’s brother.

@mattys posted:

if you put the baddest samurai against the lowest Navy Seal, the modern day guy would just shoot him with his sidearm and be done with it.

What makes you think Gibson wouldn't take advantage of the modern training techniques  if he were in his prime now?  no way of proving it but i think he'd be pretty unhittable if he played today but was also able to use modern training and technology

He was already throwing 99. There's a ceiling there. Anyway, my points wasn't that Gibson sucked, it was that 99 is a lot harder to hit than 89.

Timely article. If at 90 you have 150 milliseconds how many do you think one would have at 96,97,100? Pitchers throwing 96+ have had as big an impact on baseball as Tiger hitting 375+ yards had on golf. Keep in mind they redesigned courses because of it.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

@adbono posted:

I didn’t know until today that Bob Gibson was Josh Gibson’s brother.

Wrong Josh Gibson.

Gibson's brother Josh (no relation to the Negro leagues star player), who was 15 years his senior, had a profound effect on his early life, serving as a mentor to him. Gibson played on a number of youth basketball and baseball teams his brother coached, many of which were organized through the local YMCA.

@RJM posted:

Wrong Josh Gibson.

Gibson's brother Josh (no relation to the Negro leagues star player), who was 15 years his senior, had a profound effect on his early life, serving as a mentor to him. Gibson played on a number of youth basketball and baseball teams his brother coached, many of which were organized through the local YMCA.

Thanks for the clarification. I assumed it was the famous one

@adbono posted:

No push back from me. Bob Gibson is no longer alive so your son would have a chance.

HaHa cant believe this was just breezed by... very nice!

@old_school posted:

HaHa cant believe this was just breezed by... very nice!

Thank you. I entertain myself…..and sometimes others.

@Consultant posted:

Does the word "launch angle" define the low BA.

Have you read "October 64" by David Halberstam, one of the great baseball and history authors.

Bob

Not sure about the first question.... I guess it depends on how one would define "launch angle"? To me it's really just a catch phrase. After all, aren't line drives "launched" at a 10 to 20 degree "angle"?

To define the modern day low BA, I would personally lean more on the word "money-ball" as to the reason why. MLB clubs have invested and doubled down on the 3 true outcomes. Speaking to an overall average (there are outliers) the modern day player is incentivized for the extra base hit. Why hit 300 with 15 homeruns only to get replaced by a guy hitting 210 with 40 homeruns? Just google Joey Gallo's career stats, and you'll understand my point. Also, this isn't a dig at Gallo. I've personally watched him slap a ball to an empty 3rd base to beat the shift. When I watched him do this in person I said to myself "Well $h*t that looked easy", basically proving the point that if he wanted a higher batting average he could make it happen. But, that is NOT what he is getting paid to do.      

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

Also, this isn't a dig at Gallo. I've personally watched him slap a ball to an empty 3rd base to beat the shift. When I watched him do this in person I said to myself "Well $h*t that looked easy", basically proving the point that if he wanted a higher batting average he could make it happen. But, that is NOT what he is getting paid to do.      

So yeah, make MLB girls softball. That will be a ratings juggernaut.