baseball question

[Amit]

in my systems neuroscience lecture my professor made the comparison of neuronal excitation vs. stimulation to baseball where good pitching will always end up beating good batting

can someone explain to me the baseball bit hehe

[Red Stripe]

I think there was a study that proved that hitting a baseball was the hardest thing in sports to do. To be a successful batter in Baseball you have to get a hit 30-35% of the time, that means that the pitcher wins 65-70% of the time. It's more of a statistics thing based on the physics of hitting a baseball. Its a round bat hitting a round ball so the contact is really minimal.

[Amit]

ohhhh i get it

[uhhyeah]

To add to this, a batter simply capitalizes on a pitcher's mistake. If a pitcher throws a ball that catches too much of the plate, or is too high in the strike zone, it gets hit very hard. Keep the pitches around the knees, change speeds, add movement to the ball and the batters will be off balance. Plus, pitches thrown low and in the corners of the strike zone are hard to get good wood on and most often end up being hit on the ground for an out.

[Rubes9492]

There was actually a study that figured out that it's physically impossible to hit a 98 mph fastball....but they do it...so I'm not sure what the deal is....

[Simple Man]

Hi Amit

[DougJI]

There was actually a study that figured out that it's physically impossible to hit a 98 mph fastball....but they do it...so I'm not sure what the deal is....

It refers to the reaction time of the batter, it's (seemingly) impossible for a batter to judge where a 98mph fastball is going to be and then swing in that area in the time frame given of a 98mph fastball. It's trying to point out that batters don't usually try and hit the ball based on where its going to be an instant from the release of the ball from the pitchers hand, but more that they guess where the ball is going to be by studying the pitcher extensively. I don't believe the study is right just because that's exactly what Ted Williams did and he was one of the greatest hitters of all time. When he was asked how he did it he just said "I just hit the ball". I follow this same sort of logic too, and I have one of the best batting averages at my age level in Canada (AAA hardball, .526 at the end of the season) and all I ever did was just let my mind do the work and not try and figure it out mentally, but let my my mind guide my hands to the ball.

Anyways, it's just them underestimating the human mind.

[Pazz]

It refers to the reaction time of the batter, it's (seemingly) impossible for a batter to judge where a 98mph fastball is going to be and then swing in that area in the time frame given of a 98mph fastball. It's trying to point out that batters don't usually try and hit the ball based on where its going to be an instant from the release of the ball from the pitchers hand, but more that they guess where the ball is going to be by studying the pitcher extensively. I don't believe the study is right just because that's exactly what Ted Williams did and he was one of the greatest hitters of all time. When he was asked how he did it he just said "I just hit the ball". I follow this same sort of logic too, and I have one of the best batting averages at my age level in Canada (AAA hardball, .526 at the end of the season) and all I ever did was just let my mind do the work and not try and figure it out mentally, but let my my mind guide my hands to the ball.

Anyways, it's just them underestimating the human mind.

What team did you play for?

[Maximumoverload]

You can't really guess where a pitch is going to be. That's why when your growing up every coach tells you to watch the ball the entire time. That is why it's harder to hit curve, sinks, 4 seem fastballs, etc...with those you have to read what kind of pitch that will be thrown and then just read where it will be place with your eyes.

[beso negro]

From the way I see it, the batter has to start his swing right when the pitcher releases the ball. The batter then has a split second to decide whether or not he is going to go through with the swing. If he decides to swing, during his swing he has to locate the pitch, find where it's going, and follow-through.

But this is all from a bystanders point of view.

[uhhyeah]

From the way I see it, the batter has to start his swing right when the pitcher releases the ball. The batter then has a split second to decide whether or not he is going to go through with the swing. If he decides to swing, during his swing he has to locate the pitch, find where it's going, and follow-through.

But this is all from a bystanders point of view.

It's not really that many steps. When batters get to the level where they're hitting fastballs at this speed, they are already able to recognize the spin, trajectory, speed, and horizontal location of a pitch and simply react.

[Pazz]

From the way I see it, the batter has to start his swing right when the pitcher releases the ball. The batter then has a split second to decide whether or not he is going to go through with the swing. If he decides to swing, during his swing he has to locate the pitch, find where it's going, and follow-through.

But this is all from a bystanders point of view.

When watching a pitcher, the batter does what he does. When the pitcher comes to set, the batter stands puts weight on his back leg. When the pitcher lifts his leg, the batter lifts his leg getting ready to swing. Then when the ball is coming in the batter is ready to swing if need be. If the ball is close and the batter isn't sure, that's when you see a lot of them pull back. I'm usually always check swinging unless it is clearly out of the strike zone, which is probably my worst habit. Because when a lefty is pitching and has his 10 to 4 curveball it goes outside of the box so I relax not going to swing and then the ball curves into the strike zone. Just recently I have been catching on to what the pitcher is throwing by the spin. I sometimes know what to expect by the pitch count too.

[Amit]

man you baseball guys are nuts

[unknownsoldier12]

he's all wrong anyway. It's terrible technique to lift your leg during your swing

[Listen2ska]

actually, lifting the leg as the pitcher is midway through the delivery and tapping it back, then gathering momentum to hit the pitch is a timing technique that the Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo used. Mark DeRosa and Gary Mathews Jr.(two usually below average hitters) used this technique and both finished the season batting over .300

[Pazz]

he's all wrong anyway. It's terrible technique to lift your leg during your swing

How's it a terrible technique? It is the best way to keep time with the pitcher. The only thing you have to be careful about it moving your head. If your head goes up with your leg, you eye level gets thrown off and you will most likely swing above the ball, which happened to me at the start of the season 2 years ago. I worked on keeping me head level and my eyes on the ball all the time and fixed it.

[nitzguy]

the waving of the bat and bouncing of the leg are like little timers that batters use. look at ken griffey jr. his bat is all over the place. but his leg doesn't move that much... it's because his bat is timing it mostly. any thing where a 40% success rate will put you into a hall of fame and get you milliions of bucks is hard.

[Pazz]

This doesn't really have anything to do with the first topic posted, but it's a baseball question.

Does anyone know about any indoor batting cages in the GTA? Obviously, this is a question that needs to be answered by someone who lives in the GTA, but I want to start getting ready for the upcoming baseball season and I figured I would start off in the batting cage. I have found 2, one that is closed down and the other is $50 an hour to use.

[uhhyeah]

This doesn't really have anything to do with the first topic posted, but it's a baseball question.

Does anyone know about any indoor batting cages in the GTA? Obviously, this is a question that needs to be answered by someone who lives in the GTA, but I want to start getting ready for the upcoming baseball season and I figured I would start off in the batting cage. I have found 2, one that is closed down and the other is $50 an hour to use.

I don't live there, but seriously man, whiffle balls are one of the best batting practice tools there are. Cheap, easy to replace, won't break windows, won't damage your bat, etc.

When I was playing I'd tie a piece of string to a whiffle ball and attach it to the ceiling of my garage and hack away. It's great because the ball is always moving so you can react to different pitch locations.

Also, you can have someone throw them to you, hit them off tees (another great practice tool), soft toss, etc.

[Pazz]

Yeah well there's this piece of equipment that I have at my work that is supposed to help you with your hitting. It's called "Hit-A-Way" and it's endorsed by Derek Jeter. I could attach it to one of the support beams in my basement and use it, but it might make a lot of noise. I might buy it. $30 plus a discount.

[uhhyeah]

Equipment like that is usually just a few twists on something basic like a tee or a ball on a string though. I've never found those to be much help.