About that Major League Dream....

OK, so while we were on vacation, we spent some time at Wonderworks. Wonderworks is an interactive experience that allows you to have fun and learn at the same time (perfect for a geek like me).

One of the activities at Wonderworks is “Power Pitcher.” This is a game, like those found at most Major League ballparks, that allows you to see how fast you can pitch. It also has a catch, in that you are pitching to a “real” batter. The screen at the back of the game shows footage of an actual Major League player (selectable when you start the game). The goal is to strike out the player.

It is a bit tricky, because throwing a strike is tough. I am not sure what the calibrated strike zone was, but it was like trying to fit a Cadillac into a shoebox. It doesn’t help that, because it displays your pitch speed, you are all geeked up to try and throw your 90 MPH heater on the inside corner.

I chose Chipper Jones, and I walked him on 4 straight pitches (Four-seamer, Four-seamer, two-seamer, changeup). My Four-seamer was clocked at the whopping speed of 48 MPH, and my changeup hit 38 MPH. So, yeah, anytime you stop and think to yourself, “You know, I throw about half as fast as Jaime Moyer,” you can pretty much give up on that hope of ever making the big leagues as a pitcher.

I figure if I actually did pitch to Chipper in real life, he probably would have done the same thing the video Chipper did – not swing at a single pitch. He wouldn’t want to mess up his timing, and I doubt I could hit the strike zone anyway. But it also got me thinking about how hard it is to be a Major League hitter. I did the math, folks: It is pretty darn hard. The chart below illustrates my point:

Typical Major League Pitcher (Fastball, Changeup)
Pitch Speed (MPH)	Pitch Velocity (FPS)	Time to Home Plate (S)
92 MPH	135 fps	0.45 s
87 MPH	128 fps	0.47 s
My Speeds (Fastball, Changeup)
Pitch Speed (MPH)	Pitch Velocity (FPS)	Time to Home Plate (S)
48 MPH	70 fps	0.86 s
38 MPH	56 fps	1.08 s

(Distance from pitching rubber to home plate calculated at 60’6”)

That is crazy. Even throwing as slow as I was, you have around one second to see the ball, recognize the pitch, decide to swing, and start moving the bat. That is crazy. A Major League player has less than half of a second to do this. That is insane. No wonder you are considered an elite hitter if you only succeed in one-third of your attempts!

~E~