Originally posted by TS Garp
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Bill Belichick's place in sports history
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"Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer View PostI haven't read the Posnanski column yet, but I think the answer depends on what you mean when you say Babe Ruth transported to today's game. Do you mean Ruth, plucked out of time from 1925 and dropped into spring training 2019? He would almost certainly struggle to deal with today's pitching. By no means would he be a superstar. Whether he could hold his own enough to maintain a spot on a major league roster, I don't know, but I doubt it. On the hand, Ruth brought to the present as a boy and allowed to train with modern methods and to familiarize himself with today's level of competition over time...that might be a different story. Hard to say.
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Originally posted by TS Garp View PostYeah, he means literally plucked from 1927 and put in today's game. Apparently, Bill James had some thoughts about it on Twitter.
I see a few inter-related issues that I think would be very difficult for Ruth to overcome in the course of one season. One is that his swing is way too long to deal with 95+ heat, and even for 90-mph fastballs he would be hard pressed to be on time. Two is that I don't believe he saw anything like the sliders of today back then. Picking out sliders from fastballs is a task that fails many hitters. Even if Ruth had the eyesight to do it, I doubt he would do it without gaining the skill by experience over time. His swing did get on plane early through the zone, so once he learned to see the slider, I think he could hit it...but...the big bat tip and long swing (not to mention the heavy bat, which he could presumably abandon) doesn't give him the leeway to adjust late between a fastball and a slider once he learns to recognize it. He'd have to tighten up his load and make it more compact. He's probably strong enough to still have a lot of power once he does that, but that's not an easy swing change to make overnight by any means. And finally, today, he'd have advance scouting teams breaking down his weaknesses from video and TrackMan data after the first series or two he played in spring training. Whatever adjustments he hadn't made yet, they'd find and exploit those weaknesses."Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer View PostAnd now I've read Posnanski's article and skimmed Bill's much longer article, which Poz summarized.
I see a few inter-related issues that I think would be very difficult for Ruth to overcome in the course of one season. One is that his swing is way too long to deal with 95+ heat, and even for 90-mph fastballs he would be hard pressed to be on time. Two is that I don't believe he saw anything like the sliders of today back then. Picking out sliders from fastballs is a task that fails many hitters. Even if Ruth had the eyesight to do it, I doubt he would do it without gaining the skill by experience over time. His swing did get on plane early through the zone, so once he learned to see the slider, I think he could hit it...but...the big bat tip and long swing (not to mention the heavy bat, which he could presumably abandon) doesn't give him the leeway to adjust late between a fastball and a slider once he learns to recognize it. He'd have to tighten up his load and make it more compact. He's probably strong enough to still have a lot of power once he does that, but that's not an easy swing change to make overnight by any means. And finally, today, he'd have advance scouting teams breaking down his weaknesses from video and TrackMan data after the first series or two he played in spring training. Whatever adjustments he hadn't made yet, they'd find and exploit those weaknesses.
On a side note, how amazing is it that in his final season, at age 41, Williams went .316/.451/.645?
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Originally posted by TS Garp View PostFascinating stuff -- thanks for posting! I wonder if 1949 Ted Williams is a more interesting one to consider.
On a side note, how amazing is it that in his final season, at age 41, Williams went .316/.451/.645?"Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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these articles make about as much sense to me as the debates about "which cap" goes on the player's HOF plaque.
finished 10th in this 37th yr in 11-team-only NL 5x5
own picks 1, 2, 5, 6, 9 in April 2022 1st-rd farmhand draft
won in 2017 15 07 05 04 02 93 90 84
SP SGray 16, TWalker 10, AWood 10, Price 3, KH Kim 2, Corbin 10
RP Bednar 10, Bender 10, Graterol 2
C Stallings 2, Casali 1
1B Votto 10, 3B ERios 2, 1B Zimmerman 2, 2S Chisholm 5, 2B Hoerner 5, 2B Solano 2, 2B LGarcia 10, SS Gregorius 17
OF Cain 14, Bader 1, Daza 1
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Originally posted by Judge Jude View Postthese articles make about as much sense to me as the debates about "which cap" goes on the player's HOF plaque.
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Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand !
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The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
George Orwell, 1984
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Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer View PostI think Williams would be more prepared to face today's pitchers than Ruth would be, in the same situation where they are dropped in and have days or weeks to prepare as opposed to years. But I think he would suffer from many of the same issues to a lesser degree.
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Originally posted by TS Garp View PostIs there a hitters from a different era whose swing/approach you think would more easily translate?
Brett, Carew. I'm sure there are more. I've only studied video of some of them."Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer View PostIn terms of swing path, I think Cobb's would work well today. But I think anyone from before the 1970s or so would struggle with the slider and anyone from 30+ years ago would probably have some trouble adjusting to the velo because they hadn't seen it. Guys like DiMaggio had a pretty quick, compact swing. He'd probably be okay. Maybe Rose, too.
Brett, Carew. I'm sure there are more. I've only studied video of some of them.---------------------------------------------
Champagne for breakfast and a Sherman in my hand !
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The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
George Orwell, 1984
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Charlie Lau's book The Art of Hitting .300 is the best on the topic. It's out of print but you can find used copies. Williams' The Science of Hitting is all the rage now, and it's a good book, too, but Lau understood and explained the technical aspects of hitting far better than anyone. It's no accident he was filming hitters with high-speed cameras back in the 1970s."Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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Originally posted by Kevin Seitzer View PostCharlie Lau's book The Art of Hitting .300 is the best on the topic. It's out of print but you can find used copies. Williams' The Science of Hitting is all the rage now, and it's a good book, too, but Lau understood and explained the technical aspects of hitting far better than anyone. It's no accident he was filming hitters with high-speed cameras back in the 1970s.
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Originally posted by TS Garp View PostOut of curiosity, have we been able to approximate how hard pitchers were throwing in Ruth's era? Re: Williams' era -- supposedly, Feller was throwing over 100, right?"Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'"
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