Studying Ruth, Mantle, Aaron and the others....

No thoughts on this?????

Ruth shouldn't be included in any baseball comparison to any home run hitter besides Alex Rodriquez.

No one else comes close to Ruth.

quote:

No one else comes close to Ruth.

It's fine to believe that...He was great....

But, anything to say about the Aaron quote?

The Aaron quote is common sense.

Any major leaguer who cannot hit a fastball shouldn't be there.

Watching for variations of pitches is what differentiates good hitters from great hitters.

quote:

Watching for variations of pitches is what differentiates good hitters from great hitters.

I believe there is more to it than this....Very few MLB hitters can hit a 98 MPH fastball......I think this is what seperates the greats from the rest....

The greats can/could be on time to hit the 98 MPH pitch and still have a chance to make the adjustment for the offspeed stuff....

looking for pitches that pitchers dont throw for strikes very often (quality breaking balls) does not seem logical. I believe what Hank said, but I dont believe he hit 370+ lifetime off of Koufax by sitting on breaking balls....maybe, but I doubt it.

IMO there are other factors to consider such as count, and the pitcher.

Any major leaguer should be able to hit a 98 mph fastball.

The ability to adjust in that split second from the time that a batter recognizes the variation to timing the swing for the slower speed is a path to greatness. Making contact does not guarantee a hit.

It is the 90 MPH plus slider that is the tough pitch to hit---the good hitters can hit a 100 MPH fastball regularly

This is where I believe most coaches/instructors don't get it.....

Most hitters can't hit the the 98 MPH fastball consistently.....They will be late on it most of the time.....The exception will be if they're guessing....And, if they are, they will struggle with something offspeed....

A hitter's internal clock is preset to average speed pitching and average ball movement......The slider or curve that hangs and/or loses speed....Or, the 85-95 MPH fastball.....

The great hitters adjust their internal clock....Their timing allows them to be on time for any speed pitch and great ball movement more times than the average hitters.......

Bluedog

Apparently you have not spoken to many of the real good hitters, even at the HS/College level---they will all tell you they want the "heater"---even LL'ers like the heater rather than junk


The good hitters "internal clock" as you call it is set for the heater and then adjust for the offspeed---most detest the offspeed pitches

Deemax, I understand what you're saying, but, as you agreed, we know he did say it.....So, there is meaning there to be studied, you agree?

I believe the point is that Hank is saying pitchers could throw fastballs by most hitters.....And, I agree.....To be a great hitter, this is where you start, IMO....But, there is more to it.....

TRhit, I have spoken to and filmed more than you know on many levels.....I have pitched simulated speed to many on many levels....And, I have found that no matter the level they play on, they struggle with real fast and real slow speeds.....

I will grant you, they think they want speed....But, the fact is, they struggle with real fast speed....They consistenly swing late...

This is why a young pitcher who can hit high nineties is so sought after by MLB....Even if his control is suspect....

Hitters hit best against what they see the most often.

In the Big Leagues this would be a 91-92 mph fastball. (they see that pitch more than any other pitch, probably a thousand times or more each year) In college this might be a 85-88 mph fastball. In high school this might be an 80 mph fastball. In higher levels of travel ball this might be more like college.

Once a pitcher throws a fastball with much higher velocity than most everyone else does… It usually ends up being a called strike, a foul ball or a swing and miss. This is true at every level. The guys who lead the league in missing bats are usually the highest velocity guys… At every level. Check out the strike out leaders at every level, these are the guys who are missing the most bats.

If the hitter has never seen 100 mph he has very little chance to hit 100 mph. Then when we throw movement into the equation it’s another thing all together. Each year we see the guys who get the most money in the draft… They are almost always the high velocity guys. If anyone can give me another example, I’m all ears. There is a reason for that. The fastball is the most important pitch in baseball.

One other thing that I disagree with is the notion that hitters are up there equally ready to hit any pitch at any time. (especially with no strikes on them) The hitter who is looking for a certain pitch and gets that pitch has the best chance to be successful. This is why technology has become such an important part of Major League baseball now days. They monitor and study pitchers and hitters know what pitchers are likely to throw in most situations. Whether someone wants to call this guessing or not doesn’t make any difference, but it is happening and hitters hit what they’re looking for better than the pitch they’re not looking for. If you’re looking for fastball and you get off speed, you will not hit off speed as well. If you’re looking for off speed and you get a real good fastball, you will not hit that fastball as well. Good hitters really do think, some call it guessing! Others call it playing the percentages.

Then sometimes the best pitchers are so good that hitters have a problem even when they get the expected change up from Santana or the fastball from Bobby Jenks.

FWIW We can call this my opinion, but it’s not really my opinion at all.

pgstaff

I think I agree with everything you just posted,but I think one thing needs to be added.If a pitcher can hit 98 on the gun but that is all he throws,he will give up hits and maybe alot of them.They must have movement and change speeds to be succesfull,that is what makes that 98 mph fastball so effective,imo.

Great hitters of their era could hit the great pitchers of their era. The key here is GREAT! Their are maybe 10 to 15 great hitters in any given era and maybe 5-10 great pitchers. When guys in the MLB can wait until 15' or less to decide to swing there is virtually no fastball they can't hit. However, they have to be looking for the fastest pitch in most circumstances and adjust to all others. I believe Hank said what he said because he didn't want the pitchers throwing him junk, so he planted a seed.

PG,
Larry Walker swore he didn't guess or study pitcher's tendencies. He just saw it and hit it. He did pretty well with that.

Only the great hitters can be ready to hit the 98 MPH fastball and still be able to adjust to the offspeed pitch.......

The others can hit the in-between speed stuff but struggle with fast speed and slow speed......

Aaron was saying he could do both......And, he could...So could the Babe, Mick and Ted.....When a pitcher can't throw it past you, that's saying alot....

And, they could do it against any pitchers.....Yesteryear or today.....I would never advise anyone to dismiss the swings of the old-timers....

I would advise to study the swings of the old-timers and learn alot....

quote:

Originally posted by BlueDog:

When a pitcher can't throw it past you, that's saying alot....

And, they could do it against any pitchers.....Yesteryear or today.....I would never advise anyone to dismiss the swings of the old-timers....

I would advise to study the swings of the old-timers and learn alot....

I agree that when a hitter knows the pitcher can't throw the ball by him it says a lot. Confidence, focus, sit on off speed, no need to look fastball because you have that timed already.

I have never dismissed anyone's swing, just stated it may need some tweaking. I've also said I would not teach certain styles to a hitter (Aarons being one), but I also said that I wouldn't change anyone's swing if it was successful at the time. I actually like everything about Aaron's swing except the big dive to the ball. I think there are very few people that could have ever made that style successful, but he was one of them. I also believe that is why he struggled so much at the end of his career as did Ruth. That big slide from back to front adds to timing problems and as their bat speed and reaction time slowed they began to struggle. IMO

I think that Aaron cuote is a contradiction. Why wait for a breaking pitch if nonbody could pass him with the fastball, and anyways, any pitcher had to throw it several times in each at bat? This is other strategy that belong to times where hard throwing pitchers were the less. Today, maybe you can guest a breaking pitch once in a while, but if you seat waiting for breaking pitch, to react to a fastball, believe me, you are a dead duck.

Every batter at every and any level should go up to the plate looking fastball, but be aware that anything other than fastball will require adjustment. There are no 'dead curve-ball hitters' only 'dead fastball hitters'.

The two words 'hitting' and 'consistently' should never be used in the same sentence when discussing baseball.

Success in three of ten attempts cannot reasonably be described with the word 'consistently'.