Could you hit today’s fastball with a 54 ounce bat?
 

Substitute a name for “you” in your answer or opinion.

Babe swung a 54 at times, but I don't think he would have used it today. That would be superman stuff. I am not familiar with many of the AL teams, but I don't believe any of the current players could get around on a fastball with that huge wagon tongue bat. Maybe a slow curve, not the high hard one.

The Babe did pretty well against Walter Johnson.

i can hit the toilet half the time, pretty sure i can hit anything with a wiffle bat.

Always on the lookout for new slang...I have never heard it called a wiffle bat before.

Brian

I couldn't even hit a tee-ball with a 54 ounce bat.

It was early on that he used a bat that big, but he always swung a club and made it look like a toothpick. Then there was his step into it swing. He was so far ahead of everyone else that he made what were previously great hitters look like kindergarten t-ballers. So many people today scientifically and with metrics and data, try to definitively say Ruth couldn't hit his way out of a wet paper sack today and that pitchers back he was playing were throwing slow pitch pitching machine softballs. Pure, unadulterated, BS, hogwash. If you believe that modern day, armchair, or just out and out jealous crap, I've got some beautiful beach front property for sale, cheap. Vote for me when I run for President.

"Wee" Willie Keeler.

I think Dick Allen used a 42 for quite awhile. Can't even imagine using a 54.

All I say is put all these pumped up weightlifters back in Ruth's day with none of that stuff used, no special diets, riding lousy trains, no AC so they put their mattress out on the fire escape and slept there and no pampered traveling All-Star kids teams during your childhood. No batting helmets or body armor, brush back pitches, not a new baseball every pitch and work on the farm bucking hay or slopping the pigs. I can't see Trout doing that and he wouldn't be 220 with 6 percent bodyfat. So don't tell me how today's player is better because not one of them could take that.

Despite romantic tales to the contrary, Walter Johnson was not throwing anywhere near 100 mph heat.

Ruth would be an elite hitter in any era. But that doesn't change the fact that the pitches he faced were far slower and with less movement than what hitters face today.

OK, I'll play along. Players today are better than they were 100 years ago. ;)

Baseball pitching is baseball pitching. They weren't throwing slow pitch softballs in Ruth's day. Trying to say that the pitching today is so much better is just nonsense. There are just more of them, and they don't pitch the entire 9 inning game. Sure, they would weaken by the 5th or 6th inning. But I believe Walter Johnson was throwing 100 mph. So was Feller, who clocked with some sort of military device. Charlie Root was said to be pretty fast. Many others also. Before Joe DiMaggio died, he said he didn't see much difference in the pitching, just that they lasted longer, both in game and year in year out, and didn't break down back in the day. There weren't as many pitchers and the talent pool wasn't watered down. We've been through this ad nauseam. Believe whatever.

Why not?
Was Feller or Grove?
Nolan Ryan?
Steve Dalkowski?

What's the magic year pitchers were able to hit 100?

Only because of advancements in medical science. Let's take away all the body armor and supplements and see what happens to the pretty boys who hit a cheap homer and run around the bases throwing kisses like they found a cure for cancer.

If you consider the Double A pitching staffs of the Pirates, Reds and Cubs major leaguers.

Having stood in the batters box at the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum exhibit where you can have a simulator throw a ball at the speed of your chosen pitcher it would not matter if the bat was 54 oz of a wiffle ball bat because I tended to back up and close my eyes even with that protective barrier in front of me

It is all in how you measure it. Today's numbers are generated from radar guns that measure velocity at 50 feet from the plate. Older measurements required the pitcher to throw through some contraption at a longer distance. Those older measures have to be recalculated to account for the differences in measurements. Nolan Ryan, for example was clocked at 100.6 in the tech of the time, which seems fast but not overpowering, BUT that translates into 108.5 in today's measurement standards, which makes him the ultimate gunslinger. Feller's recalculated velocity was 107.6. Johnson's was 93.8 based on a 1917 test from a Bridgeport, Connecticut, munitions laboratory, but that equipment was less accurate than the newer stuff, so it is harder to say what his velocity was.

I would think someone like Giancarlo Stanton, who swings his bat like a toothpick, could give it a halfway decent shot.

FWIW, i've held and swung a Ruth gamer. It was only in the forties but it was a hunk of iron compared to the thin-handled whips of the modern game.

My son’s baseball team in high school had kids(plural) throwing 90+ miles an hour. Definitely not beyond the realm of probability that pitchers were throwing close to or above 100 miles an hour

Swinging a Ruth Gamer
 

I don't remember the weight on this Ruth gamer but I swung it at Chad Drier's (RIP) house in about 2005.
I still had a small peninsula of hair. It has long since eroded. Climate change and all...
It was cool swinging a bat that Babe once swung.

I use a 28 oz playing softball currently. I think I used a 32-34 oz when I played baseball, so no I can't imagine hitting a MLB fastball with a 54oz bat. I am pretty sure I wouldn't be through 20% of my swing when the ball would whiz by.

I would like to see Miguel Cabrera try. In his younger days, he seemed to be able to adjust to any condition

That's a lot of lumber. I bet I could have hit 100MPH with 54 ounces (when I was younger), but it'd take about 50 pitches before I fouled one off and about a hundred before I got one in fair territory (I'd have to bunt it)... does that count?

Aaron Judge has the highest EV of players in 2022. He's a big dude.

My guess is there's probably a lot of players that could do it today and make contact but not the kind of contact needed for a game situation.

Easily, if wasn't in motion ;)

Phil aka Tere1071

I think if players had an approach like the old players they could use the heavier bats. Some of those old guys had short swings oriented towards contact and that's why they could use the heavier bats. They were almost in a check swing stance before the pitch came in. If they went up there like the mass produced cavemen you see in today's game who are living by the "swing hard and hope for the best" motto, they wouldn't be using the heavier bats.

As for the speed of old pitchers, I use personal experience from a field day contest when I was 15 years old. I had the fastest pitch during the event at 81 MPH and the longest throw of 243 feet in the air. Multiple guys in the 1800s recorded throws of over 400 feet in the air. If I topped out at 243 feet (I hit 238,239,243 on the throws and 78-79-79-81-79 on the pitches), then I'd say they had to be throwing harder than 80 MPH to add about 160+ feet to the throws. It's ridiculous to think old pitchers were just lobbing the ball up there at 80 MPH at their best

If you count bunting as hitting, then yes.

If you count HBP as hitting, then yes for me.

On the "Glory of Their Times" audio set, Chief Meyers points out a bat in the corner of the room he says was given to him by Babe Ruth. You can hear Larry Ritter walk across the room and exclaim in amazement as he picks up the bat. He says, "this must weigh 50 ounces, at least," and the Chief replies, "50 or better than that." Also on the set you have Hans Lobert telling Ritter that when Ruth came up at 19, "his upper body was like Hercules." You can see in photos and films that the Babe's bats were enormous and we know he had no trouble getting around on pitches, to say the least. As for pitching then vs. now, the average pitcher today might be a little faster than the average pitcher 100 years ago due to size and leg strength, but I think Walter Johnson was probably the faster pitcher that ever lived who could also get the ball over the plate consistently. I've never heard of an exercise or strength training that increases the velocity of a pitcher's fastball. Have you?

I played baseball all through school, then fast pitch softball for a couple of years. Played organized softball in the Navy. Just before I retired from the Navy in San Diego at age 49, I decided to take a few swings in a batting cage with the speed set supposedly to major league, with a 34 ounce bat. It was a dumb idea, to put it mildly.

I will unless one of the parties comes up with a better candidate than we have seen in the last 20 years. Please run, you can do better.

I imagine a good percentage of the members here would look like this trying to pick up a 54 ouncer...

Attachment 536603

Valid points, Hank.

EVERYONE should listen to the CDs of The Glory Of Their Times.

Before Ruth, bats were a bit longer, and the handle a bit thicker. The center of gravity of the bat was different. Players didn't want to break bats, that could get expensive.

When Ruth starts swinging for the fences, he's using heavy bats with thin handles, that moves the center of gravity toward the barrel and away from the hands. Other players start swinging those bats.

I do think that there are repetitive exercises that can increase arm speed a bit, but not to the point where everyone (I'm including all kids, not future college and professional players) can be throwing in the 90's.

Seems to me that Ruth's time and now are different. Lighting is better (I know, night games, but on dark, cloudy days parks turn on their lights). Baseballs that are in the game are cleaner; and are manufactured to be more consistent. Health care is better, including eyecare. Travel is better. Players and teams are mindful of physical fitness and conditioning. Players are generally in better shape, better able to excel at the game. If Ruth were around today, maybe he'd have a cell phone or two to facilitate carousing...

I resemble that remark!

Answer: no one, not even close. Even Judge & Stanton would look silly.

that is the same one Adam was referencing. Think it was 44 ounces. Felt pretty substantial.

I think any elite hitter can but just not consistently(consistently by baseball standards), or effectively(something other than just a punch and judy at bat).

All it really takes is guessing right on both the location and the type of pitch. It just won't happen often.

With all the strikeouts in today's game, it seems like even major leaguers can't hit today's fastball with their bat of choice.

54 ounces? Never been a problem............

Attachment 536779

Does it count if I can bunt?

We use to play wiffle ball indoors during gym when it was raining.

http://www.wiffle.com/

I could probably hit a boomerang the second time it came around.

The players are in better condition today, but the batboys were stronger 100 years ago.;)

Who cares if someone could hit a fastball with a 54 ounce bat, the only thing that matters around here is what would that person's WAR be??????? :cool:

I always carried an Al Kaline bat in the trunk of my car. One day while out of town I passed a batting cage place. Whipped my car right in there. Got out and went to the trunk to get the bat. paid for the cage time and stepped in. I thought this will be fun. The first pitch hit the back fence before I even knew what happened. I thought, OK, now I have to get after it. Next pitch, swing and a miss, and again, and again. Finally, I fouled one off. Then another. No balls left. I got out of the cage and asked the guy how fast those pitches were. He told me 90 MPH. He said he saw me getting the bat out of the trunk and thought this guy can probably hit good. That was about 25 years ago. Now there's no way I can even swing a bat, let alone hit a fast ball.

It's laughable when people think pitchers at the turn of the century are similar to pitchers nowadays. 90% of guys coming out of every MLB bullpen throw 95+ with some hitting triple digits. Sure Feller and maybe Wajo threw hard, but with the training and nutrition that these players go through now it's not in the same ballpark. I've also read from multiple sources Johnson threw in the low to mid 90's. If you're a starting pitcher today and don't touch 95 you're in low A ball or named Greg Maddux.

I wrote a book about the guy and never came across anything like that, pure conjecture in any case. I wouldn't argue that in general, pitchers today throw harder than they did 100 years ago, or 50 years ago for that matter. On average bigger, stronger, better conditioning and training, better coaching in mechanics. But I also believe that the big, strong farm boys from the past threw as hard, or in Johnson's case, harder, than anybody today. They pitched to stay effective for nine innings, or ten, or twelve, or fifteen, and three hundred in a season, relievers for however long they were needed. What if Walter Johnson knew he was only expected to go five or so innings every game, every fifth day, for less than 200 innings a season, or he was coming out of the bullpen to go an inning at the most? I don't think any batter today, no matter what size bat they use, would want to face him under those circumstances. Yes, these guys do throw harder today, but most of them also throw their arms out doing it. Those old guys knew how to pitch, not just throw.

The strength most players have, I think they could swing a heavy bat easily.
I'm not sure about effectively, because anyone doing something several thousand times gets used to doing it a certain way. And the adjustment to a heavy bat from a light one would change that a lot.

Could I do it? I prefer a heavy bat, my hands simply won't move any faster. Never tried anything that heavy, but I could probably be just as good/bad with a big bat as any other.

I did try a cage that was in the low 90's. where I lived at the time had a minor league team and an ex player started a batting cage place that included a couple that the local minor leaguers as well as college and HS teams could practice at.
A buck or so for 20 pitches. All I could see was the ball leave the arm of the machine, a flash about halfway and hear the thump as it hit the padded backstop.
Second batch I had a guy watching who looked like a ball player. On what was over all pitch 40, I just barely touched the ball. He said to go again, but I'd had enough, and just the slightest foul tip of a ball that was roughly major league speed at the time was enough.

That totally made me think very differently about the guy on any team struggling and batting under .200.

I couldn't hit MY fastball with a 54 ounce bat. Coincidentally my fastball at this point may well be 54 also, just MPH instead of OZ.