Old Time Baseball Video

[saevel25]

Was watching some Olbermann today and they were talking about some old footage found. I just find it interesting to see how these players played the game. Watching up close footage of Babe Ruth swinging in batting practice. Some of the pitching motions are just nuts.

[iacas]

Bookmarking (and bumping) for later.

[billchao]

This was pretty cool. I was surprised to see how much movement was in Babe Ruth's swing, for a power hitter. Obviously, Ty Cobb's swing had a lot of movement, too, but he was more of a contact hitter so it's not as critical to stay centered (see Ichiro). Walter Johnson was a freak of nature. He looks like he's just tossing the ball at you. Thanks for posting, @saevel25 .

[jamo]

Pretty cool. Thanks for posting @saevel25 .

[phan52]

If you like watching old video of MLB, this is a must see. Old 8 and 16 MM film of the grand old game.

http://www.amazon.com/When-Was-Game-Complete-Collection/dp/B004QRUN8M/ref=pd_cp_mov_0

It is a couple of hours of stuff like this with James Earl Jones doing the voiceover . . .

[Lefty-Golfer]

b

This was pretty cool. I was surprised to see how much movement was in Babe Ruth's swing, for a power hitter. Obviously, Ty Cobb's swing had a lot of movement, too, but he was more of a contact hitter so it's not as critical to stay centered (see Ichiro).

Walter Johnson was a freak of nature. He looks like he's just tossing the ball at you. Thanks for posting, @saevel25.

being that this was batting practice he is probably trying to put on a show...he is very long to ball, more on his front then normal and really unbalanced. if you watch the clip below you will see game footage frame by frame. he still has a large stride but his body positions are much more controled - his finish and balance are pretty amazing. The man was very aggrsive to the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmB--g0_U8

[billchao]

b being that this was batting practice he is probably trying to put on a show...he is very long to ball, more on his front then normal and really unbalanced. if you watch the clip below you will see game footage frame by frame. he still has a large stride but his body positions are much more controled - his finish and balance are pretty amazing. The man was very aggrsive to the ball. [URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmB--g0_U8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmB--g0_U8[/URL]

It's not so much whether he is balanced or not, but the big stride and lateral movement he takes into the ball is what I was surprised at. They don't teach that anymore.

[saevel25]

It's not so much whether he is balanced or not, but the big stride and lateral movement he takes into the ball is what I was surprised at. They don't teach that anymore.

Same video, no analysis.

His swing does look very modern except for that long stride. There has been a few hitters over the years that have had a stride similar to that. Ichiro comes to mind. He has that lunging move. He has more of a level swing and less power. So he hit more GB and line drives versus fly balls.

[billchao]

Same video, no analysis.  His swing does look very modern except for that long stride. There has been a few hitters over the years that have had a stride similar to that. Ichiro comes to mind. He has that lunging move. He has more of a level swing and less power. So he hit more GB and line drives versus fly balls.

Different kind of hitter. I actually mentioned Ichiro in my first post because he's similar to Ty Cobb. Besides, a few power hitters who manage to be successful with a lunge would make them outliers. Most people today swing centered because it's better. Ruth got away with it because the pitching wasn't as good in his era.

[Lefty-Golfer]

as narrow as he started he had to take a longer stride to get enough separation to make his swing. if you look at his swing at footplant he isn't overly wide at all he just had a long way to go to get there.