Any baseball players here?

[dennis thompson]

I was watching the Mets the other night and their second baseman was choking up on the bat about 2 or three inches. I've always wondered why not just use a shorter bat?
He's hitting about 330 so he's doing something right
(Submitted by the worst hitter in the history of Little League baseball)

[Bryan Lisowski]

A major league bat is weighted differently than bats you can buy commercially. Generally the reason for choking up is for bat control, it also eliminates part of hooking the ball. Basically that means looking to drive the ball up the middle, especially with 2 strikes. Barry Bonds choked up pretty much his entire career and the results were proven. Whether he took steroids or not (pitchers were on them as well), he was probably 1 of the top hitters I have ever seen. I played small college baseball and hit against 2 pitchers that were first round draft picks (1 potential HOF) so I will say until the day I die, hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do.

If you are regularly watching the mets I hope you have a cooler of cold beer or a good therapist.

[Charlie Velasquez]

When you swing a bat you are moving the mass of the bat in a circle, rotational inertia, ... angular momentum, .... some such term, it has been too long. The arms and hips start the bat forward, the hands start the bat's circular motion. The closer the mass to the force and the less mass to move the easier to start the swing and control the direction.So by choking up you move some of the mass on the other side of your hands and move your hands closer to the center of mass. Now you can get the bat into the strike zone quicker. You can wait a millisecond longer to see the pitch.

As Bryan stated, hitting a baseball thrown by a good pitcher is difficult. Many batters are reduced to guessing, either a location or a type of pitch. By choking up, you give yourself a little more time so as to not have to depend on your guess quite so much.

But, the less mass the less kinetic energy. It is a trade-off. With no strikes most batters are willing to take the chance that they can guess right thereby getting the greatest amount of mass at the greatest speed on the ball. If they guess wrong, they will get another chance.

With two strikes some hitters are willing to reduce the chance of hitting deep to improve their chance of making contact.

[Yonak Hawkins]

A major league bat is weighted differently than bats you can buy commercially.

I'm wondering what this means, Brian. Are they different shapes ? Do commercial bats not have the cup in the end, for instance ?

[dennis thompson]

A major league bat is weighted differently than bats you can buy commercially. Generally the reason for choking up is for bat control, it also eliminates part of hooking the ball. Basically that means looking to drive the ball up the middle, especially with 2 strikes. Barry Bonds choked up pretty much his entire career and the results were proven. Whether he took steroids or not (pitchers were on them as well), he was probably 1 of the top hitters I have ever seen. I played small college baseball and hit against 2 pitchers that were first round draft picks (1 potential HOF) so I will say until the day I die, hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do.

If you are regularly watching the mets I hope you have a cooler of cold beer or a good therapist.
I record all Met games and usually watch them the next morning (I get up early), I keep reminding myself, it's only a game:)
I agree that hitting a baseball is, by far, the most difficult thing in sports,although hitting a golf ball, which is literally sitting on a tee, is the most frustrating thing in sports.
I am completely incompetent when it comes to doing either, but quite competent when it comes to cold beer

[Bryan Lisowski]

I'm wondering what this means, Brian. Are they different shapes ? Do commercial bats not have the cup in the end, for instance ?

In most commercial bats the length to weight ratio is generally something similar to 33" 30 oz. Major league players bats can be 35" 34oz, really depends on what the player wants. Major league bats are different, the only way I can say this is my buddy and I used to use wood bats for BP, and he got a cracked bat at a minor league game. You could tell the difference in weight from what we bought at a sporting goods store. Bat manufacturers use the premium blanks for the pros. Today's maple bats are generally light than ash, which was the only would used up until the late 90's. The reason for whether a bat has a cup or not is also based on weight preference by the player. If he likes a 35" bat, but the weight is slightly to heavy they will dish the cup to remove a bit of weight.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Thanks, Bryan.