Also, he cares so much, that he breaks bats over his knee when he K's.
Also, he cares so much, that he breaks bats over his knee when he K's.
bigfunguy (05-10-2013)
X Paul does it quite a lot, even when he's down one strike. When Votto was hurt last year, and basically became a singles hitter, he did it with no count.
It's easy to see why guys in the early 1900's (Ty Cobb) would do it almost every AB. They were using much heavier bats.
Now you rarely see it. I'd like to see guys like Bruce and Cozart choke up with two strikes a lot more often. OBP is paramount.
I dont think its an OBP thing...it's a "Anything but a strikeout" thing...I get if there's 2 outs and nobody on, Bruce might as well be swinging big throughout the at bat...but less than 2 outs and a man on third, I think you gotta alter your approach to be sure to avoid the K...maybe that's choking up (or whatever), but you gotta do it, and even before 2 strikes in my mind.
I don't think there's a slider in each player's preferences that says "power" on one end and "contact" on the other.
Tom Servo (05-10-2013)
Has there been many players in history who went from being a high strikeout hitter to a good contact hitter? None come to my mind, but there probably is someone who did.
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
CySeymour (05-10-2013)
In an attempt to find out who that was, I googled "detroit tigers choking up funny pic". No luck in finding out, buuuuuuut, I did find this little gem.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3c7...about-baseball
This is almost spot on with what I deal with trying to teach my wife and daughters about the game. Having a baseball conversation with them is just painful.
"so, how many points do the red team need to win now?"
"how come he didn't try to hit the ball daddy?"
"Honey, I don't understand...he hit the ball and it went over the fence...why is he standing there on the middle base?"
"Daddy, that man in the black shirt is mean. He keeps pointing at them and making them go and sit down. Were they bad?"
Seriously...I get those questions. *sigh* A lone man swimming in a sea of estrogen.
Some guys have one. A lot of other players probably don't. But I'm not real impressed by the idea that a player shouldn't even check to see if his exists, particularly if his splits argue that there's nothing to lose from trying something different in here-comes-the-strikeout situations. However, I also recognize this would be more effective if the player tried it sometime before his mid-20s.
Reading comprehension is not just an ability, it's a choice
Don't forget X-Paul also routinely does choke up on the bat when he has two strikes.
I don't like it at all when Joey turn's into Judy Votto. Yea it works sometimes but overall I thinks it's messed him up.
Yea I know he's always chocked up at times (which I have no problem with), but now when he does it he just mostly slaps at the ball.
Last edited by Falcon7; 05-10-2013 at 08:25 PM.
Its because choking up on the bat doesn't actually make you more likely to make contact. They told us it did back in the 70's in Little League, but the game has evolved since then. It is the same reason players don't use two hands to catch a fly ball anymore -- it doesn't actually help. If it worked teams would use it, but it doesn't so they don't. Its a fallacy.
The only time I can remember Votto choking up with a 0-0 count was last year when he was hurt. He couldn't rotate fully to generate power. He still batted somewhere around .350 hitting tons of singles, and had an OBP somewhere over .420.
He's still not back to his old self with the power stroke, he might never hit 30 HR again. But that's never really who he was. 25 HR, 40 2B, 100 RBI seems about right.
It helps you hit the barrel more often. The fallacy is that it takes your power away. I suggest people take batting practice both ways. I dont think you will see a bit of difference in distance you hit the ball. You will just see more consistency with hitting ball on good part of bat more often when choking up.
Votto has always choked up as far as I remember it is just more pronounced with two strikes. Bonds always choked up. Quite a few players always do it just isn't the several inches that you would notice it.
And catching a fly ball with two hands does help. How could it hurt? If ball pops out in 1 in 100 times it would be good to have your hand there. Just because MLB players don't do something is a bad reason to say it is a fallacy. They are the best in the world and very comfortable with what they have been doing for 10-15 years. They also have a lot of style in their respective games. Do you really think some of these guys batting stances are the best way for them to start their approach. No, but thats their style. Also not everyone runs out ground balls does that mean it wouldn't help since after all every MLB player doesn't do it.
Last edited by RadfordVA; 05-11-2013 at 08:25 AM.
TSJ55 (05-11-2013)
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