"It's a very difficult task to hit a baseball"?

[jimnasium]

What's that classic line from Crash?

Oh yeah..."Don't think. You can only hurt the ballclub."

Hitting an be like golf you can't think and play golf at the same time.

 

[Cackdiesel]

What's that classic line from Crash?

Oh yeah..."Don't think. You can only hurt the ballclub."

I always liked "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains."

 

[jimnasium]

How about this one for Chad. "There's no crying in baseball"!

 

[76gintcock]

I don't know if this story fits in here or not. But here goes.

Many years ago my brother and I were at the beach with our father. Our mother had recently died and he was kind of a mess. We decided to get him out of his chair one night, so we dragged him to the old Garden City arcade. He was in his late 60s and got no exercise. Well, he saw the batting cages and was intrigued. We watched for a while and he said he wanted to try it. We thought he had lost his mind. He was apparently a fine player in high school and on company teams in the 30s, but gosh. Well he gets in the cage, puts on the helmet, and we start the machine at the slowest baseball setting. Before you know it, he was hitting soft little line drives with solid contact. Speed it up. Yessir. He kept hitting. He was just putting the bat on the ball. Speed it up. Yessir. Same thing.

Now I realize that the machine was putting the ball at the same place every time. But if this retired doctor with COPD could put the bat on the ball, why can't our guys.

By the way, he was a happy old guy. I'm pretty sure he surprised himself. He certainly surprised my brother and me.

 

[JGH 35]

Last night it didn't look like these guys could hit a beach ball with a boat paddle. Hard to watch.

 

[jimnasium]

Well hopefully we can get it "crunk" up.

 

[bdblack]

You really are all over the place... hitting a round ball traveling at 90+ mph, even hitting a curve, slider or numerous other pitches from 60.6 feet with a round bat IS the hardest thing to do.

Nobody said baseball players were more athletic than NBA players or some football players.
Hitting a baseball requires no ability to run, jump, ability to juke a player, catch a ball over the middle.

Hitting a baseball requires extra ordinary hand/eye coordination ....If you have been in the batters box ( like I have) you'd understand why hitting a baseball IS the hardest thing to do in sports. and by the way....... even if you hit the ball you have to get a hit to stay on the team...you don't get credit for just hitting the ball

If a baseball player got a base hit 3 out of 10 times he'd be in the HOF

If a QB or WR completed or caught 3 out of 10 passes he would be cut from the team.. if a basketball player made 3 out of 10 jump shots, he'd be lucky to be on the team.

....and its so ridiculous to argue the point I wont anymore

Like you said, "hitting a baseball requires no ability to run, jump, ability to juke a player, catch a ball over the middle." Yes, it does require extraordinary eye/hand coordination BUT ... you have a very small protected area to deal with (standing still, mind you) and the pitcher has to throw the ball over the plate. I get it that you cherish baseball ... I like to watch Gamecock baseball, but the fact remains that most of the best athletes, with the very best eye/hand coordination in the entire country, choose not to play a 19th century sport that sputters along at a snail's pace. Maybe it's just harder for the less talented athletes to hit baseballs?

 

[bucketdad]

I don't know if this story fits in here or not. But here goes.

Many years ago my brother and I were at the beach with our father. Our mother had recently died and he was kind of a mess. We decided to get him out of his chair one night, so we dragged him to the old Garden City arcade. He was in his late 60s and got no exercise. Well, he saw the batting cages and was intrigued. We watched for a while and he said he wanted to try it. We thought he had lost his mind. He was apparently a fine player in high school and on company teams in the 30s, but gosh. Well he gets in the cage, puts on the helmet, and we start the machine at the slowest baseball setting. Before you know it, he was hitting soft little line drives with solid contact. Speed it up. Yessir. He kept hitting. He was just putting the bat on the ball. Speed it up. Yessir. Same thing.

Now I realize that the machine was putting the ball at the same place every time. But if this retired doctor with COPD could put the bat on the ball, why can't our guys.

By the way, he was a happy old guy. I'm pretty sure he surprised himself. He certainly surprised my brother and me.

Great story 76. Had to be a real good feeling for him when he walked away from the cage.