Tiger Woods as a baseball player

[pjsnyc]

Lets say George Steinbrenner forked over $1,000,000,000 to Tiger Woods to play for the Yankees...how far do you think he could hit a homerun? 450 ft? 500 ft? 300 yards?

[Dent]

Interesting Question, but id have to say he would barely be able to hit it despite the fact that a golf swing and a baseball swing are similiar, but completely different at the same time.

[Bo the Golfer]

300-most baseball players can't hit 450 let alone 500

[pjsnyc]

Interesting Question, but id have to say he would barely be able to hit it despite the fact that a golf swing and a baseball swing are similiar, but completely different at the same time.

lets assume he hit a 90mph fastball on the sweet spot just undetrrneath the trademark using the same swing torque he would with a driver

[pjsnyc]

300-most baseball players can't hit 450 let alone 500

indeed...but this is tiger woods we're talking about! im sure its possible for him to hit a baseball at least 400 ft

[iacas]

I don't mean this to be rude, but it'll come off that way, probably. Anyway, here goes:

Who cares?

[pjsnyc]

I don't mean this to be rude, but it'll come off that way, probably. Anyway, here goes:

I do enough to ask the question...you do enough to submit some sort of response...oh almighty admin

"Golfers don't just play golf: we watch football, baseball, and more..."

[gbk56]

I think he would have a hard time connecting with the ball and would never make it out of the minors like MJ.

[itzzzberny]

honestly..... tiger would have the worst hitting % and possibly the most fielding errors.... probably more strike outs that hits....

[lamebums]

Hitting a stationary golf ball and moving baseball are two different things. In golf you have to play your foul balls, that's the difference.

That said, there's no doubt Tiger has the power to put the ball out of the park. The question is whether he can connect with a ball moving at 90+ mph.

[Ed_Vaderr]

Just hypothetical without any real life factor El Tigre could probably hit it to the high 300's to low 400's, basing this from the torqe his body creates hitting a golf ball & average in driving distance. Now I wonder how much can a John Daly hit it or better yet a Tony Finau basing it on thier drive average on the course?

[allin]

I don't see Tiger as a position player. His body type and personality are more suited to being a pitcher than anything else. If a position player he would likely be a shortstop or outfielder, gap hitter with ok average 280+ maybe 15-18 dingers a year. Home run hitters mostly have those big behinds.

[Harold]

I remember reading somewhere Tiger took batting practice with one of the MLB teams. Might have been the Yankees. Anyhow by the end of BP he was hitting them out of the infield and the people in the know were saying that was actually pretty good. Hitting a BP baseball also is nowhere near trying to hit a game ball either.

[Big Lex]

Tiger against a pitching machine or batting practice pitcher, with some time to warm up? I think he could hit one 400 feet. He's strong and can swing fast.

Tiger against major league pitchers? _If_ he hit it at all, it would be 90 feet, straight up in the air or on the ground.

[T.J.K.]

I think it is tough to say. A golf club is easier to swing harder than a baseball bat. I would say he may be able to get one 350 or so, but I don't think it could compare to say Pujols or Fielder or someone like that.

Just like golf, there is more too it than just swinging hard and I don't think he would have the fundamentals to even hit the ball, just like Albert Pujols can't drive it 320 probably.

I do think that some of the major leaguers could hit a golf ball farther than Tiger Woods (or anyone on tour for that matter) if they were allowed to swing at say 20 balls and just let it go.

[Behindthedish36]

Having played Div. I baseball, I feel I can chime in this argument. I played at a school in which its Golf program is one of the most dominant around. With that being said I have to disagree with the idea that baseball and golf are similar swing. I still play both and the only thing fundamentally similar is the fact that they both use swings that depend on staying on plane consistently.

Now to get back on topic regarding Tiger. If we simplify it to ONLY a fastball and making the grievous assumption that he will make solid contact; I still don't feel that would guarantee a HR. Let alone a 300+ foot one. YES Tiger is the best player on the planet in golf... but thats why he went to Stanford for Golf.

Now Tiger a physical specimon like all the other greats, so if would have been trained "from birth" to hit with wood instead of Irons, he would have been very successful as well in the Derek Jeter mold

[iacas]

Having played Div. I baseball, I feel I can chime in this argument. I played at a school in which its Golf program is one of the most dominant around. With that being said I have to disagree with the idea that baseball and golf are similar swing. I still play both and the only thing fundamentally similar is the fact that they both use swings that depend on staying on plane consistently.

Oh hogwash. I can hit a baseball 300 feet and I'm hardly the physical specimen Tiger Woods is. Heck, I can hit a softball 300 feet and my driver swing speed is a good 20 MPH less than Tiger's.

Besides, in what stadium is "a 300+ foot one" a home run anywhere but the foul lines? Not many.

[pjsnyc]

I remember reading somewhere Tiger took batting practice with one of the MLB teams. Might have been the Yankees. Anyhow by the end of BP he was hitting them out of the infield and the people in the know were saying that was actually pretty good. Hitting a BP baseball also is nowhere near trying to hit a game ball either.

Man, I wish that was televised as a pregame thing or something to that effect.