Can you hit a 79 mph pitch?

Stinsok · #1 06-12-2010, 05:31 AM

I was at a Montgomery Biscuits game last night and overheard someone say, "79?, I'd tear that thing up" I thought back to my last time at the batting cage with my son. I thought to myself, "70 mph, I outta be able to hit that-no problem." I remember seeing the pitching machine load, and then hearing the ball slap the backstop. I could barely see the thing.

Scottgun · #2 06-12-2010, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stinsok

I was at a Montgomery Biscuits game last night and overheard someone say, "79?

Talk is cheap, eh?

L-A · #3 06-12-2010, 08:13 AM

With the exception that the guy could have been a retired world legend, 79mph is 116 feet per second.

That was bragging. Very uninformed bragging.

jeremyr · #4 06-12-2010, 08:22 AM

stratovani · #5 06-12-2010, 09:51 AM

I remember sometime back in the late 1990s my gang and I were visiting my sister out in Long Island. She took us to this indoor amusement arcade (I don't remember what it was called or where it was situated) so the kids could run around a play. They had a batting cage where there was a large screen where the pitcher stood with a couple of holes where the ball would come out. After you loaded up the machine with quarters you selected which Major-League pitcher you'd want to hit against, and his life-size filmed image would appear on the screen winding up and pitching the ball, which would come shooting out of one of the two holes. So I looked over the list and I thought, "I'll never hit Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, or Pedro Martinez, so I think I'll try Greg Maddux". Forget it! I was lucky to foul off a couple of pitches! He may have been slower than the other guys, but his breaking ball and control more than made up for it! It's not just velocity, it's movement and location as well!

sloasdaylight · #6 06-12-2010, 10:02 AM

I played some baseball in HS, and my buddy (one of our pitchers) started encroaching on the 90mph mark his senior year. I couldn't hit those, but I could hit most of the stuff in the 80 range. I probably couldn't hit anything over like 65-70 now, but a few years ago most definitely.

Mazatleco17 · #7 06-12-2010, 10:17 AM

Hit a 90 once no joke, but the ball didn't go anywhere and my hands hurt

Craig_S · #8 06-12-2010, 10:30 AM

I can hit a few 70mph balls, but it would take me a little to get back into the 'swing' of it.

iamlowsound · #9 06-12-2010, 10:45 AM

I can easily hit a squash ball going 90mph, but I doubt that I could hit a baseball going 79. In high school I could throw a lacrosse ball close to the 100mph mark and there wasn't a goalie in the league that could move fast enough to stop it, too bad I couldn't aim that.

lowsound

DigMe · #10 06-12-2010, 11:25 AM

Most guys who were successful in high school baseball should be able to hit it. Not me though!

bc

MJ5150 · #11 06-12-2010, 11:39 AM

If I stood in a batting cage long enough, I could hit one.

-Mike

fo shizzle · #12 06-12-2010, 11:44 AM

I bet you I could hit it over that mountain....

dave64o · #13 06-12-2010, 11:57 AM

When my son was still playing baseball he liked to go to the batting cages. Once in a while I'd try the fast pitch cage, which was 75MPH. I'd usually spend the first 20 balls getting a little bit used to it and I might get a bat on a few balls. Once I tried the second 20 I'd get a bat on most but make decent contact only on a few.

When you're watching a major league game 75 looks like the pitcher could walk it into the catcher faster. But when you're standing there taking the pitch it's FAST. I couldn't imagine standing there and taking a 90+ fastball.

slaps76 · #14 06-12-2010, 12:25 PM

When I played baseball, yes. I used to be able to hit 90mph in a batting cage(pitched from a machine). But batting cages are easier to hit than live hitting at 90mph or so...batting cages use balls without stiches, so there's less movement on the ball, and a batting cage doesn't mix in off-speed stuff. I'd hit 80mph live in high school.

But if someone never played baseball before, or never at any level at high school or above, they're probably not hitting an 80mph pitch!

SoonerMatt · #15 06-12-2010, 01:01 PM

If I stood there holding the bat out in front of me I'm sure one of the balls would hit it eventually.

Seriously, though, one of my best friends was a pitcher in HS and I could only hit off him once; IIRC that pitch was "in the low 70s," as his brother put it. That was almost 9 years ago and I'm sure if I went to cages every day I could eventually.

anyonefortennis · #16 06-12-2010, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fo shizzle

I bet you I could hit it over that mountain....

I can get a racquet on a 100-110 mph serve, just barely. Not sure I could hit a fastball over 70 mph.

GregC · #17 06-12-2010, 10:51 PM

Nope, not really. I went to the batting cages once--pretty close to utter failure. It's amazing how much faster that ball moves when you're at the plate than watching it on TV.

MikeyFingers · #18 06-12-2010, 10:55 PM

There's a 90 MPH batting cage not far from my house and I'm terrified of that thing. I have trouble with the softball-style slow pitch machines.

jonathan_matos5 · #19 06-12-2010, 11:18 PM

no. but with my crappy vision i have trouble hitting a stationary ball on a tee. maybe if i get new glasses i could hit a moving object.

i used to be able to hit 80+ mph but that was when i was about 12 years ago when i could react in time with my eyes. now my eyes tell lies. and i swing at the air after the ball passes by.

Rusty Hooks · #20 06-13-2010, 03:28 AM

I have played some college ball so 79 MPH really isn't that difficult for me. pretty good speed for a breaking ball.