Your 1 At-Bat

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Against Daryl Kile. I want to see if that curve was as nasty as it looked on TV.

[steve B]

I can choose the pitcher?

Wakefield, or maybe any other knuckleball pitcher.

I'd most likely go down swinging on 3 pitches, but I'd only have a chance on a pitch under about 70MPH so a knuckleballer would be about it.

I took a few rounds in a 90+ batting cage once. 40 pitches and finally just barely touched one. Enough to hear but not enough to even deflect the ball.
All I could see was the ball leaving the machine, a white flash about halfway then heard the thump as it hit the pads.

That gave me a whole different outlook on the guys batting .125 or whatever. And an even different outlook on the better hitters.

Steve B

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Hitting at that speed is more reactionary. In college I had at bats against guys that threw gas. When I would talk about it with my family later they would ask you knew when to swing and when to take. I couldn't really explain it. You just do.

As to your point about guys hitting .125 - any guy in the majors is a beast. Even the guys who hit under 200 are usually the best player to come out of wherever they are from.

Originally Posted by steve B

I can choose the pitcher?

Wakefield, or maybe any other knuckleball pitcher.

I'd most likely go down swinging on 3 pitches, but I'd only have a chance on a pitch under about 70MPH so a knuckleballer would be about it.

I took a few rounds in a 90+ batting cage once. 40 pitches and finally just barely touched one. Enough to hear but not enough to even deflect the ball.
All I could see was the ball leaving the machine, a white flash about halfway then heard the thump as it hit the pads.

That gave me a whole different outlook on the guys batting .125 or whatever. And an even different outlook on the better hitters.

Steve B

[steve B]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

Hitting at that speed is more reactionary. In college I had at bats against guys that threw gas. When I would talk about it with my family later they would ask you knew when to swing and when to take. I couldn't really explain it. You just do.

As to your point about guys hitting .125 - any guy in the majors is a beast. Even the guys who hit under 200 are usually the best player to come out of wherever they are from.

That was the biggest thing I realized. That the guys batting under.200 could talk about seeing the ball, and the better ones talk about seeing the rotation. Mostly as I understand it a red dot for one rotation, and none for another. Red dot is the curve? It hardly matters since I know for sure I can't see either.
One of the hitting coaches has a reaction time test on his site........I think I have the high score.

Steve B

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Espn the magazine has a great article about seeing the spin of the ball in the current issue (bodies).