"I'm a .700 hitter" - I call BS

[Larks]

This has been kicked around on this board a couple times....but it's worth repeating.....

There are VERY few .700 hitters if you play more than one weekend a year. You may pull off a .700 or higher tournament or maybe a .700 OBA especially if you count walks and errors towards your total. But, I submit that anything above .600 BA is strokin it.

Why? Because for every 0-for-3, you have to put up a 7-for-7 to sustain .700. Take a 1-for-5 and you have to slug a 13-for-15 (.867) to get yourself back to .700.

God forbid you put up a 3-for-10 round robin. To get yourself back to .700, you need to go 18 for your next 20. Thats right, it will take at least 5 or 6 games hitting .900 to make up for that rough RR. And we've all had them.

Anyone that posts or e-mails that they are a .700 hitter probably counts HROs, fielder's choices, walks and errors all as hits. Yer hitting .700? I call BS.

[BB61]

I agree. I have played with some of the best hitters in the city over the years. I think we had maybe one or two guys ever hit .700. Even a .700 OBP is extremely difficult.

[Jet23]

I agree. I have played with some of the best hitters in the city over the years. I think we had maybe one or two guys ever hit .700. Even a .700 OBP is extremely difficult.


Heck, I would take a .700 fielding percentage for crying out loud!

[DT04]

No kidding Jet. I was watching the Rockies and Cardinals yesterday and I saw Edmonds had a .977 fielding percentage. What?

[ttf23]

IMO some people count walks and errors, even at that rate 700 is unlikey.
For those that count a fielders choice as a hit, well I'm sure in their mind
they do hit 700, hell maybe 800.

There are some in the area that have flirted with it, like Leo, LaFever, and
some off the all time greats, but not many hit 700...a real 700 anyway.

[Jet23]

In 20 years of softball (ouch) I can count on one hand the number of legit .700 caliber hitters. Like Larks said, you can't have an off day and maintain that average. Let's say you went 7 for 10 one day. You would have to get 7 hits in your next 10 at bats to keep your .700 average. Let's say one day you went 6 for 10. You would almost have to go 8 for 10 (or right around there) to maintain your .700 average. I know guys that had 70 hits in 100 at bats and they still couldn't hit .700!

[Knowitall]

I Know that are team counts walks and reach on error as OBP.They do not count has hits, but help your OBP. Any way that you get on base in a positive manner counts for that. We do not count Fielder choice or sack flies. I think that is the best way to keep track of that, it's to much to argue over if a fielder made an error or not.

[BackstabberSS]

I agree. We count a fielder's choice as 0-1. Walks do count towards your OBP just like it does in baseball. We count errors as hits because the last thing you need is arguments over stats during the game. OBP is the only thing that really matters anyway. We really only keep OBP in our book along with RBI, Runs, HR, and K's. HR outs do not count as hits either. And right now we have myself and one other guy hitting over .700 under this format.

[28SS]

The only stat we keep is wins & losses. Everything else is meaningless.

[RB44]

28SS,
I disagree. Keeping track of OB% and batting average is a helpful tool for setting a good batting order for your team. Having a good batting order goes a long way in improving your chances of winning.

Obvious errors (if there is a ? as to whether a hit is a hit or an error, score it a hit), fielders choices and outs all count against your average. Walks do not affect your average but help your on-base %.

Example- If I have 6 AB's in a game and I fly out, hit 2 singles, hit a grounder that forces a baserunner at second, walk, and hit an HR for an out, my batting average for that game is .400 (2 for 5), and my OB% is .500 (3 for 6).

[jwe]

last year i played with only three people who hit more than 600 for the year and had at least 30 games in , it's quite hard and all them guys play upper lever ball . the other really good hitter's batted about 550 with on base close to 6 hundy. good ball players hit between 480-525 with on base between 560 and 600, that's a good ball player , maybe not A level but pretty damn good. ,especially when playing against good teams, cause they make plays on you . take a good team of 10 good fielder's and have them all hit 500 with on base between 560-600 , your going to win at least 2 out of 3 every time .

[Guido]

RB44

I agree somewhat.
Keeping stats only works if the Manager keeps the info, and doesn't make it available for the team. Our previous Manager kept stats on everything and made it available to the whole team. At the end of the year, this Manager handed out awards based on the data. However, when the going got tough, and we were not winning, players used it against each other. Also, consistency with the lineup generally leads to a better team batting average. If you are suggesting that the Manager should change the lineup each week based on the previous game or tournament, I think overall that the team will suffer. Most guys like to know where in the lineup they are hitting.

[28SS]

We've been playing with the same core group of guys for 15 years. We know how each guy hits. You can tell a lead off hitter, 2 hole hitter, 3, 4, 5 man regardless of their "average". Everyone wants to help the team, but if I go 0 for 5 & we win, I can live with that. If I go 5 for 5 & we lose, what's the point? Keeping a stats has a way of making each guy care about his own bottom line. I need guys to focus on what they can do to help the team win.

[Larks]

We've been playing with the same core group of guys for 15 years. We know how each guy hits. You can tell a lead off hitter, 2 hole hitter, 3, 4, 5 man regardless of their "average". Everyone wants to help the team, but if I go 0 for 5 & we win, I can live with that. If I go 5 for 5 & we lose, what's the point? Keeping a stats has a way of making each guy care about his own bottom line. I need guys to focus on what they can do to help the team win.



Thats a valid point. Are we here to win or are we here to hit?

I think it's ok though for the coach to keep the stats so he knows who is hot and who isnt. In the case of the teams I have been on for the last few years, there's very little difference between our 5 and 9 hitter at first glance. Having an idea who is hitting and who isnt can help make those decisions.

I dont release our stats beyond the decision makers which in our case this year there are two of us. I've ran a team in the past where I put stats out regularly and I think in the end that caused problems.

[SW52]

I think keeping stats depends on the team...and every team is different. I think we (TPE) are unique in that there is never an arguement among players and we've had basically the same guys for 5 years now. We've become more of a family than anything. Our stats have been posted on our site starting at the beginning of last season and it hasn't been a problem...maybe because we're a veteran team with 90% of us being 35 or older. Not sure, I just know in our case it isn't a problem. If you've been to our site you know we don't take ourselves too seriously anyway. We play to win, don't like losing, but at the end of the day we're more about friendships and family which is why I think we've been a successful team.

Maybe Jethead can shed a different perspective on us.

[phatneff]

It must be nice to be on a team that doesn't have any arguments between players!! Maybe I should have joined TPE when I had the chance several years ago!!

[SW52]

Yeah, well, instead you decided to catch a Metro game ending 200mph line drive off Jet's bat to put us in the loser's bracket, didn't ya? Uh, huh, we're anti-Neff now buddy! Stick with Soccer there Betty.

[tcruise]

I'm a believer in obp. Unselfish players will win games. good players take whats given to them. Walks, extra bases, not trying to do mre than capable of doing. One stat that never shows up is driving a ball to right side to make sure advance runner. How many times have u seen hitting the middle into a double play, Instead of making sure you move the runner. Their is no stats for playing the game smart.

[EXP23]

I'm a believer in obp. Unselfish players will win games. good players take whats given to them. Walks, extra bases, not trying to do mre than capable of doing. One stat that never shows up is driving a ball to right side to make sure advance runner. How many times have u seen hitting the middle into a double play, Instead of making sure you move the runner. Their is no stats for playing the game smart.
That is a good point. We usually put our hitters that are capable of hitting backside behind our slower runners to help avoid getting doubled up. That is a part of the game that gets overlooked when doubleplays aren't being made against you, but it is a glaring problem when they are getting turned on you.

[FISHY]

It is called "PLAYING THE GAME" or fundamentals. Very important! It is kind of scary sometimes when you are in the field and hear someone from the bench yell "play the game" or "do your job." You know that this team is going to do the things that the game dictates. That goes for sac flies as much, if not more than the others. I can not believe that some one said that they did not count sac flies like it was one of the worst things in the world. How many times have we come to the end of a game and said, "I wish we had those 1,2 and even 3 runs we left stranded on third? How important is a sac fly now?

[28SS]

OBP is huge. You have to have guys that can get on to win. Maybe I can see the point if you're playing with a different group of guys every year & aren't as familiar with each other as we are. We have very little player turnover. It doesn't matter to me who's hot today because for the most part, I have 12 -15 years of history standing behind my guys. Just because they went 0 for 4 last game doesn't mean that they will do the same in the next game. You can spot hot streaks & slumps because you know your players well enough to see what's happening. I don't need a score sheet to tell me. For the most part we are pretty consistent. When things get shaky for a game or 2, we'll look through the book & possibly adjust the lineup a bit. Other than that, the book goes ignored.

[rick2082]

Hey Larks,
Ask Bill or Clay what the leadoff hitter for MAX is hitting on the year.....Brad is hitting up there, ALWAYS on base and doing what's needed to get the job done.
Glad ur back Brad!!!

[jwbyrd0211]

We have a guy on our team that is hitting .700, but he's only played in half our games. Other than him, the next closest is like .666, and .620. It is very difficult to hit a legit .700. I bet you could probably count them on one hand.