The CHB on Ted, and Launch Angle

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Tony-OH said:

Yet he feels derailing a positive thread that was interesting was worth hearing once again.

Once again, I didn't bring up the topic.

 

[Il BuonO]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Always thought the whole "launch angle" trend recently was weird.  I remember The Science of Hitting and Williams talking about how a slight upswing is best.  Seems to be common sense to me as someone who played baseball and has watched a ton of it.  

Ted was a student of hitting. There’s literally nothing talked about today that he hadn’t already covered.

He was the same way about fishing and flying fighter jets.

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Yet I was taught to swing down on the ball in high school and we were taught the "Orioles Way" because my headcoach was an Orioles associate scout.

Did your high school coach hit .400?   I was taught to swing down on it, too but that didn't seem to make much sense to me.  

I was taught a bunch of different things, unfortunately.  When it came to hitting I pretty much did what I wanted come game time.  An upswing felt more natural to me, anyway.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, Il BuonO said:

Another really good book about his life by a really good writer is The Kid by Bradlee, Jr.

There’s no shortage of stories about his moral character, but I like my heroes flawed like we all are anyway.

I have a copy of that on my shelf, waiting to be read.    Hoping to get to it sometime this year.

[Il BuonO]

Just now, Frobby said:

I have a copy of that on my shelf, waiting to be read.    Hoping to get to it sometime this year.

You’ll enjoy it. The last chapter is quite interesting as well, detailing all the behind-the-scenes machinations of his son and daughter with Ted in his last days.

[weams]

16 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

Did your high school coach hit .400?   I was taught to swing down on it, too but that didn't seem to make much sense to me.  

I was taught a bunch of different things, unfortunately.  When it came to hitting I pretty much did what I wanted come game time.  An upswing felt more natural to me, anyway.

.400 in the major leagues. 

For certain, there are different approaches at different times. I doubt Ted anticipated concrete covered by rubber fields in an era when speed was a premium tool. 

I think it is logical to assume that today's game does not reward ground balls of any kind. Line drives are always good if not defended the way they do now.  The last frontier appears to be over their heads.  Yet now that everyone does it, they don't pay for it as a tool Homers. I mean. We live in interesting times. 

[weams]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I have a copy of that on my shelf, waiting to be read.    Hoping to get to it sometime this year.

It is a really good one. 

[weams]

14 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Ted was a student of hitting. There’s literally nothing talked about today that he hadn’t already covered.

He was the same way about fishing and flying fighter jets.

 

In my teens, I worked at Sears and he was the sporting goods god. 

[Il BuonO]

Just now, weams said:

In my teens, I worked at Sears and he was the sporting goods god. 

He was a little obsessive about making his own flys and took it very seriously. People who went with him on fishing trips knew not to screw around. Ted didn’t suffer fools gladly.

[Il BuonO]

A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived."

-Ted Williams 

[weams]

4 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

He was a little obsessive about making his own flys and took it very seriously. People who went with him on fishing trips knew not to screw around. Ted didn’t suffer fools gladly.

I tied flies for a bit. It was a  unique experience.  Simpler time. 

[Tony-OH]

28 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Did your high school coach hit .400?   I was taught to swing down on it, too but that didn't seem to make much sense to me.  

I was taught a bunch of different things, unfortunately.  When it came to hitting I pretty much did what I wanted come game time.  An upswing felt more natural to me, anyway.

I doubt it. Haha.

I was never a power hitter so honestly I always used a level swing approach which resulted in a lot of hard line drives that never got a lot of launch angle.

[waroriole]

22 hours ago, murph said:

Only had one season with an OPS under 1000. How’s that even possible.  The greatest hitter to ever walk this earth.   

I’d say Barry Bonds, but I also never saw Ted play.

 

Still the last guy to bat .400

[waroriole]

14 hours ago, Frobby said:

Except for the “natural” part.   But hey, “without chemicals, life itself would be impossible,” as Monsanto used to say in its TV ads.   Or BASF: “We don’t make many of the products you buy.   We make the products you buy better.”

What was more of an advantage: hitters using chemicals, or only one race allowed to play?

[Chavez Ravine]

43 minutes ago, waroriole said:

I’d say Barry Bonds, but I also never saw Ted play.

 

Still the last guy to bat .400

I still can't wrap my head around 2001, no matter what happy juice he was taking.