nygfanmaybe
09-26-2012, 06:35 AM
I'm gonna pick up on a convo that was started in another thread. Which is harder...hitting a baseball or a golf ball? I will contend that if the only criteria is the ability to hit the ball, then obviously hitting a golf ball is much easier. If the criteria is hitting a golf ball straight, then I have to think about it a little more.
In baseball, there is not so much emphasis on where you hit the ball. Sometimes a slice or a hook on a baseball can turn into extra bases. In golf, a slice or a hook usually is not good, unless your intention is to make the ball do that.
Regarding hitting a baseball...and I am assuming that we are talking about a baseball that is being thrown at you. I grew up playing baseball among other sports, and up until the summer of '72 I thought I had a shot at making it a profession.
That summer I was playing for Irvin Favre's (Brett's dad) American Legion baseball team in Gulfport, MS. We were playing an exhibition game one night, and the other team had a pitcher by the name of Rodney Walker. Walker was a guy who had his shot in the minors, but for whatever reason he did not make it. His best pitch was his fast ball. The first pitch that I saw from him...I really didn't see. My stance changed that night from a wide-open stance to a crouched stance just to be able to get a peep at the ball as it zipped past at speeds over 90 mph. In my last at bat, I was able to punch a feeble grounder to 2nd base and was just happy that I had gotten a piece of the ball.
It was after this experience that I realized that I had no future as a hitter in the bigs. It was over. I started wondering what I would do now.
So...if you have never experienced this, you probably have no idea what it is like. Hitting a baseball thrown at that velocity is very, very difficult. Seeing a baseball thrown at that speed is difficult.
On the other hand, although hitting a golf ball is easy, hitting a golf ball straight is very, very difficult. Something that in 58 years I have not been able to master.
So...in closing...I would say that hitting a golf ball straight is about as difficult as being able to hit a baseball thrown at over 90 mph. If I had to choose, I couldn't, because I can't do either.
In baseball, there is not so much emphasis on where you hit the ball. Sometimes a slice or a hook on a baseball can turn into extra bases. In golf, a slice or a hook usually is not good, unless your intention is to make the ball do that.
Regarding hitting a baseball...and I am assuming that we are talking about a baseball that is being thrown at you. I grew up playing baseball among other sports, and up until the summer of '72 I thought I had a shot at making it a profession.
That summer I was playing for Irvin Favre's (Brett's dad) American Legion baseball team in Gulfport, MS. We were playing an exhibition game one night, and the other team had a pitcher by the name of Rodney Walker. Walker was a guy who had his shot in the minors, but for whatever reason he did not make it. His best pitch was his fast ball. The first pitch that I saw from him...I really didn't see. My stance changed that night from a wide-open stance to a crouched stance just to be able to get a peep at the ball as it zipped past at speeds over 90 mph. In my last at bat, I was able to punch a feeble grounder to 2nd base and was just happy that I had gotten a piece of the ball.
It was after this experience that I realized that I had no future as a hitter in the bigs. It was over. I started wondering what I would do now.
So...if you have never experienced this, you probably have no idea what it is like. Hitting a baseball thrown at that velocity is very, very difficult. Seeing a baseball thrown at that speed is difficult.
On the other hand, although hitting a golf ball is easy, hitting a golf ball straight is very, very difficult. Something that in 58 years I have not been able to master.
So...in closing...I would say that hitting a golf ball straight is about as difficult as being able to hit a baseball thrown at over 90 mph. If I had to choose, I couldn't, because I can't do either.