Contact points for different locations is nothing new. A swing for an inside pitch would appear different than a swing on a high outside pitch. The more outside the deeper contact should be made.

You would have a long way to go before you could teach me anything about hitting a baseball.

Answer the basic point

Why aren't players under 200 pounds hitting more home runs?

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
Why aren't players under 200 pounds hitting more home runs?

How many players under 200 were there back then compared to now? You think if Mantle was born in this era he'd still grow up to be 5'11" and 175?

Check out this page.

quote:

While there's plenty of discussion concerning the ballooning average weight of NFL players since the 70's and 80's (the average offensive lineman is 62 lbs heavier today than he was in 1970), there isn't much talk about weight gain in baseball. But, not surprisingly, it's increased at almost the same rate.

1972 817 players, 185.5 lbs
1977 895 players, 186.3 lbs
1982 923 players, 189.0 lbs
1987 968 players, 193.9 lbs
1992 1001 players, 201.3 lbs
1997 1121 players, 205.9 lbs
2002 1216 players, 208.3 lbs
2007 1146 players, 207.2 lbs

Interestingly enough, it was after the 2002 season that baseball implemented its mandatory drug testing program.

Your logic is flawed.

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
Notice that he is in his follow through.

The wrists cannot turn to this position without excessive wrist roll if the palms were up/down through the zone.

Swing a bat using both styles. Tell me which is more fluid into contact and into follow through.

The picture on the link appears to be a pose rather than a swing. He is contorted.

How does Williams swing compare to Mantle's swing?

Quincy,

What are you talking about? His wrists haven't even started to roll yet in the still photo. Again, show me a still of someone with their wrists in the position you talk about at contact and you may have some credibility, but until then......

Mantle's is a good old farm boy with great hands Eye and extreamly strong forarms. Wow was he fast. Staying in there without a helmet is just sometimes crazy when you look back in the past. What a wonderful player.

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
Longest Home Runs

Mickey Mantle - 565 feet and, some say, longer

The Mick hit the first taped home run at 565 at Griffth stadium after he hit the roof five times coming within mere feet of hitting it out of Yankee Stadium. "ON ONE LEG"

Micky Mantle FOR THE YANKEES hit a ball 634 feet. the real record Mickey Mantle at Yankee Stadium on 2-3 occasions hit 550-560' and one occasion 570'--620'. Mick has the record.

In an exibition game, Mickey Mantle hit a ball 700 feet. He was also known for hitting home run's over 600 feet on more than one occasion.

he was very strong. he could bench 300, curl 90 lbs dumbells with ease, and squat a ton (can't remember the #). He was gifted naturally to allow the swing of the bat with fluidity and without friction science would later say. The path of the bat was not restricted by what would be normal kinetics by either his left or right-handed swings. But his core strength came from his obsessive work-habit of swinging the bat a "million" times a week.

Mickey also developed tremendous strength working at the lead mines during the summers. One job in particular, that of "screen ape," was responsible for Mickey's incredibly strong wrists, shoulders, arms and forearms. A "screen ape" smashed large rocks into small stones with a sledgehammer. There were two "screen apes," one of whom smashed rocks until he couldn't hold the hammer any longer, and then rested while the other took his turn. The strength Mickey developed from this work and other farm chores later helped him to hit some of the longest home runs in the history of the game.

He was a gifted athlete, playing not only baseball but also football and basketball. It was during practice for a high school football game that tragedy befell Mickey. He was accidentally kicked on the left shin, and the wound developed into the bone disease osteomyelitis. It became so serious doctors wanted to amputate Mickey's leg. Mickey's mother wouldn't hear of it, and Mutt drove Mickey 175 miles to the Crippled Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City. There Mickey was treated with a new wonder drug, receiving doses every three hours around the clock. Miraculously he responded, and Mickey's leg was saved. The drug: penicillin. Unfortunately, the injury was just the first among many that were to hinder Mickey for the rest of his life. However, this bout with osteomyelitis rendered Mickey unfit for military service for life, another issue that arose later in life.

"If that guy were healthy he'd hit 80 home runs."
Carl Yastrzemski on Mickey Mantle

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
You have to realize that the same studies that you have read claimed at one time that a ball could not be hit over 500 feet.

That is obviously false.

I'm sure the same studies would claim that a player could never hit a ball 500 feet from either side of the plate.

His left handed shot off the right field roof facade is well documented.

1. 734 ft. – 5/22/63, vs. Kansas City, at Yankee Stadium, Pitcher: Bill Fischer

2. 660 ft. – 3/26/51, vs. USC, at Bovard Field, USC, Pitcher: Unknown

3. 650 ft. – 6/11/53, vs. Detroit, at Briggs Stadium, Pitcher: Art Houteman

4. 643 ft. – 9/10/60, vs. Detroit, at Tiger Stadium, Pitcher: Paul Foytack

5. 630 ft. – 9/13/53, vs. Detroit, at Yankee Stadium, Pitcher: Billy Hoeft

6. 620 ft. – 5/30/56, vs. Washington, at Yankee Stadium, Pitcher: Pedro Ramos

7. 565 ft. – 4/17/53, vs. Washington, at Griffith Stadium, Pitcher: Chuck Stobbs

8. 550 ft. – 6/05/55, vs. Chi. White Sox, at Comiskey Park, Pitcher: Billy Pierce

9. 535 ft. – 7/06/53, vs. Philadelphia A's, at Connie Mack Stadium, Pitcher: Frank Fanovich

10. 530 ft. – 4/24/53, vs. St. Louis Browns, at Busch Stadium, Pitcher: Bob Cain

Uh, you have to realize that these numbers are as accurate as believeing the guy who claims he caught a fish THIIIIIS BIIIG. 734? You lose all credibilty. The numbers you are reporting are from a Mantle fan page.

A ball would have to come off the bat at 180 mph to travel 734 feet. The fastest measured is around 125-130.

Plus, the distance is estimated because it hit the facade 370 feet away and "witnesses" claimed that it was rising. Therefore it was only halfway from landing. Gee, there's some exact science there.


They actually measure home runs nowadays, rather than relying on exaggerations...I mean guesses. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/homeruntracker/
The longest home run last year was 507, but Mantle somehow could hit a ball 50% farther?

I guess you had to be there.

"That kid can hit balls over buildings."
Casey Stengel on Mickey in 1951

"I'm sure glad this isn't my home ball park."
Hank Aaron to Mickey on Yankee Stadium

"How the hell can you play here?"
Harmon Killebrew to Mickey after he caught three 450-foot fly balls for outs off Killebrew in Yankee Stadium

"Power is a big thing in baseball. It can't be cheapened. That is, a fellow has it or hasn't. It isn't a fluke or great accomplishment, like a perfect game. When Mantle connects, it's a tape-measure job. Nobody who ever lived has more power than Mantle."
Baseball expert Gabe Paul

"Mickey's was the longest ball ever whacked into the valley behind Forbes Field."
Sportswriter Chester Smith of the Pittsburgh Press on Mickey's homer when MacDonald threw Mickey the same pitch again

"It was like a golf ball going into orbit. It was hit so far it was like it wasn't real. It was a super-human feat."
Legendary USC Coach Rod Dedeaux on Mickey's 656-foot home run hit in an exhibition game at Bovard Field, USC on March 26, 1951

"It would've been hit out of an airport."
Art Fowler after pitcher Ryne Duren said he and his teammates didn't think a Mantle home run was going out

"That would bring tears to the eyes of a rocking chair."
Tigers manager Bucky Harris on Mickey's 643-foot homer out of Tiger Stadium off Paul Foytack, September 10, 1960

"I just wouldn't have believed a ball could be hit that hard. I've never seen anything like it."
Bucky Harris, the Manager of the Washington Senators, on Mickey's 565-foot homer hit at Griffith Stadium, Washington

There is a red seat in Fenway Park where Ted Williams hit a shot that traveled 502 feet.

Yeah. I get it. He had power. But do you know how ridiculous it sounds to claim that he could hit a ball 230 feet farther than the farthest home run of 2007. Nearly 1.5 times the distance?

Whcih is roughly the equvalant of another human being able to:
throw a 150 mph fastball
hit a 600 yard golf drive
clear a 30-foot pole vault
run a 2:30 minute mile
have an 80" vertical leap

People exaggerate. 500 feet becomes 600 feet, 50 years later.

yes, some people exaggerate, others miscalculate, and others still couldn't believe their eyes.

Unless you were there to disprove the reporters and baseball players, I'll have to point out how ridiculous you are making yourself appear.

I don't have to be there to understand that a human being is not capable of hitting a ball 600 feet, yet alone 700. Barry Bonds has never hit a home run measured at 500 feet, if that gives you any indication of true home run distance.

Therein lies the flaw in your thinking.

You have set Barry Bonds as the ideal for home run hitters.

Your ideal falls short of Mantle and many others.

You have to forgive Quincy, he's apparently from another planet. Either that or he doesn't know physics or how the human body works.

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
Therein lies the flaw in your thinking.

You have set Barry Bonds as the ideal for home run hitters.

Your ideal falls short of Mantle and many others.

Uh, I never claimed Bonds to be the ideal, although statisically he is far superior to Mantle as a home run hitter. Mantle averaged 6.6 home runs per 100 at bats, compared to Bonds 7.7. And from 2001-2004 Bonds averaged 12.6 per 100 at bats!

My point was that Bonds did so much juice that he cheated to become, statistically, the greatest home run hitter of all time, yet during that time period where he was one of the strongest athletes in the world and probably one of the strongest ballplayers ever, he never hit a ball over 500 feet.

And let's assume that Mantle was capable of hitting balls 700 feet. So, he had 50% more strength and batspeed than anyone else. Why didn't his line drives kill people, because they were coming off the bat at 150 MPH instead of 100? Why weren't his pop-up constatly dropped because they were traveling 300 feet in the air instead of 200? Why didn't nearly every ground ball get through the infield because they were hit 50% harder than the average player?

I personally recall at least two infield pop ups that were dropped because they were in the air so long. I attribute this to the fielder becoming disoriented from looking up so long as compared to the accumulated force of the falling ball.

You are using theoretical means to establish reality rather than using science to explain reality.

Gravity existed before science.

Science also finds that it has to adjust itself as different realities become known.

I recall two players hitting balls over the right field roof at Tiger stadium. Until it was done, it was considered impossible. Science adjusted.

Curve balls curve. Theories could not prove that curve balls curved so science claimed that curve balls were optical illusions.

You are trusting science and disclaiming reality.

I guess you had to be there.

quote:

Originally posted by Quincy:
I personally recall at least two infield pop ups that were dropped because they were in the air so long. I attribute this to the fielder becoming disoriented from looking up so long as compared to the accumulated force of the falling ball.

You are using theoretical means to establish reality rather than using science to explain reality.

Gravity existed before science.

Science also finds that it has to adjust itself as different realities become known.

I recall two players hitting balls over the right field roof at Tiger stadium. Until it was done, it was considered impossible. Science adjusted.

Curve balls curve. Theories could not prove that curve balls curved so science claimed that curve balls were optical illusions.

You are trusting science and disclaiming reality.

I guess you had to be there.

Just realized I'm arguing with a moron. I apologize to all that had to read this thread.

You must have a mirror in front of your keyboard.

You have no argument because all you are quoting is theory.

Reality trumps theory every day of the week.

I will admit that there is a person of lower inteligence in the discussion, but it sure isn't me.

Hey, I heard Sidd Finch holds the record for fastest pitch at 168 mph. Imagine if the Mick connected off 168 MPH? It would go 900 feet!

quote:

Originally posted by tfox:
Quincy, is this the contact hand position you speak of?

Great pic tfox. I see what you are saying about the top hand being palm up. At the same time the bottomhand is still maintaining the palm sidewards.

My contention is that to reach this point, one has to start their swing with a palm facing palm sideways grip.

I remember hearing about mantle's homer in detroit. That number is so off. They said that it *would* have traveled that far if it didn't hit the wall...