This is just sick. Saw it live on TV last night, and it took me a few minutes to pick my jaw off the ground. Harper just has a unique God-given talent.
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He is also the kid who would take Batting Practice after his high school games for an hour or two and lives in the gym.
Talented? Certainly. But what we are witnessing is mostly an obsessive desire to outwork his competition. Everybody in MLB is incredibly talented. Does Harper have more gifts than others? Likely yes. But the biggest gift he has, perhaps, is his killer instinct. Ty Cobb had it, so did Michael Jordan
by the way, the bat broke after contact... Still impressive though
Sick
3and2Fastball posted:He is also the kid who would take Batting Practice after his high school games for an hour or two and lives in the gym.
Talented? Certainly. But what we are witnessing is mostly an obsessive desire to outwork his competition. Everybody in MLB is incredibly talented. Does Harper have more gifts than others? Likely yes. But the biggest gift he has, perhaps, is his killer instinct. Ty Cobb had it, so did Michael Jordan
by the way, the bat broke after contact... Still impressive though
If it would have broken before contact, we would have had a story.......
I still like Todd Frasier's lost the bat grip HR better.
russinfortworth posted:3and2Fastball posted:He is also the kid who would take Batting Practice after his high school games for an hour or two and lives in the gym.
Talented? Certainly. But what we are witnessing is mostly an obsessive desire to outwork his competition. Everybody in MLB is incredibly talented. Does Harper have more gifts than others? Likely yes. But the biggest gift he has, perhaps, is his killer instinct. Ty Cobb had it, so did Michael Jordan
by the way, the bat broke after contact... Still impressive though
If it would have broken before contact, we would have had a story.......
Jim Rice swung so hard he broke bats on more than one occasion checking his swing.
RJM posted:russinfortworth posted:3and2Fastball posted:He is also the kid who would take Batting Practice after his high school games for an hour or two and lives in the gym.
Talented? Certainly. But what we are witnessing is mostly an obsessive desire to outwork his competition. Everybody in MLB is incredibly talented. Does Harper have more gifts than others? Likely yes. But the biggest gift he has, perhaps, is his killer instinct. Ty Cobb had it, so did Michael Jordan
by the way, the bat broke after contact... Still impressive though
If it would have broken before contact, we would have had a story.......
Jim Rice swung so hard he broke bats on more than one occasion checking his swing.
Puig too. Though as the broadcaster mentions, the bat was probably compromised before he took it to the plate. I'm guessing same for Rice. Notice Puig changes from ash to maple after ash broke.
Don't love Harper's swing (not bad but compared to some of the best hitters like Donaldson, Posey, mccutchen, pujols) but he definitely is super talented and he is also a very intense player. Can be obnoxious sometimes but he also plays hard in an old school way. The guy really wants to win and has the talent to do it.
The bat clearly had a hairline fracture prior to the AB. Contact was well above the trademark near the sweet spot & the bat would not have broken if it was intact. Still, Harper is incredible.
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You have about 3-4 more frames before contact. That pic is not contact
When they replayed during the game it looked like contact was between the label & the sweet spot. Still it is incredible & who really knows but it is sick power for sure!
Fair. This is the best I can do.
My observation is that most broken bat HRs are by power guys, and they're usually hitting the bat on the taper where the bat is more likely to break. (Remember Bo Jackson intentionally breaking a bat over his helmet.) At that spot on the bat, there's less bat speed (and less mass, I assume) than at the sweat spot, which is why you don't see many non-power guys doing it. If Harper had hit that ball on the sweat spot it might have gone 450'.
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MidAtlanticDad posted:
Fair. This is the best I can do.
My observation is that most broken bat HRs are by power guys, and they're usually hitting the bat on the taper where the bat is more likely to break. (Remember Bo Jackson intentionally breaking a bat over his helmet.) At that spot on the bat, there's less bat speed (and less mass, I assume) than at the sweat spot, which is why you don't see many non-power guys doing it. If Harper had hit that ball on the sweat spot it might have gone 450'.
Agree! Nice work, great pic! And yes, I'm not sure most people realize how strong you have to be to snap those bats like Bo did. Those displays were hard to comprehend.