Well, some people do, but those guys seem to be pretty rare. Whenever most people talk about hitting, however, it seems to come out all funny, to the point where I think it’s just more about feel and fast-twitch muscles and spidey sense than it is about anything that can be articulated or taught.
Case in point: this harmless article about Ryan Raburn’s hitting approach. Read through it once and see if you take away the same “lesson” I did:
- Rayburn says you shouldn’t go up and try to hit home runs, especially with runners on base;
- He learned this by watching Miguel Cabrera, who is second in home runs in the AL and must hit a lot of them with runners on base because he leads the league in RBIs too;
- You can’t go up there and swing at bad pitches — be selective;
- He learned this from Johnny Damon, who says that pitchers like to pump that first strike in there, and boy howdy you have to pounce on it.
Know what? I think the best we can do with hitting advice is to tell guys to (a) be a good hitter; and (b) get hits.
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- Wooden U Lykteneau - Sep 8, 2010 at 12:37 PM
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That book cover and the depicted player says all you need to know
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- BC - Sep 8, 2010 at 12:42 PM
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Here’s all you need to know. Fred McGriff says so.
http://www.tom-emanski-baseball-videos.com/
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- Paper Lions - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:03 PM
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And the thing you have to do to be a good hitter, is be consistent.
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- Jonny5 - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:14 PM
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Vladimir Guerrero should write a book on how to turn balls out of the strike zone into hits. He’s got to drive a pitcher freaking bonkers. How do you fight that guy? throw strikes and hope he doesn’t hit it? worm killers? what?
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- RichardInBigD - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:21 PM
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He can hit worm killers, too. At least twice I’ve seen him take a pitch that bounced in front of the plate and turn it into a hit.
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- doctorfunke - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:32 PM
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Look at how he drops his back shoulder, causing his top hand to get under his swing. Don’t listen to him unless you want to hit pop flies and do push-ups all day. Plus, his jersey is on backwards.
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- Matt S. - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:35 PM
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Don’t clog up the bases!
-Dusty Baker
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- Jonny5 - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:47 PM
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I saw him take a ball in on the hands out of the yard. It was like he was able to twist his body so he could get the good part of the bat on the ball. That pitch was a bat breaking pitch if there ever was one, and he took it long. A physics proffessor wouldn’t be able to understand it if he saw it. I love watching that guy when I get the chance.
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- Spudchukar - Sep 8, 2010 at 1:52 PM
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All the theories, arguements, and strategies, just go to prove one thing. Hitting is the toughest thing to do in sports. No where else is 1 success in 3 excellent.
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- anson2995 - Sep 8, 2010 at 2:01 PM
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“Hitting is not about muscle. It’s simple physics.” This is how the Yankees became a dynasty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTwE7xDZkPk
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- Paper Lions - Sep 8, 2010 at 2:07 PM
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Except in hockey or soccer, where scoring on 1 in 3 shots would be phenomenal….or in tennis where having one in 3 shots be a winner would be other worldly….or in just about any sport.
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- RichardInBigD - Sep 8, 2010 at 3:18 PM
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If that’s how you feel, there are plenty of blogs for other sports…
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- Ditto65 - Sep 8, 2010 at 6:30 PM
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But those 1 in three hits are not necessarily scoring runs, where as your soccer and hockey scores are goals. As for tennis – ? Bad comparisons.
