Royal Paige
- Thread starter veritas59
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This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Big LIKE.
Trivia: Parker grew up in Independence, Mo, just a few minutes from the Kauffman Stadium, and she was a Royals fan growing up.
Actually 70 mph is exceptionally fast and very few Softball pitchers throw it that fast.I can think of only two Paige Lowery of OU and Barnhill of Florida, 70 mph is difficult to hit as the distance between the pitchers mound and home plate is a lot shorter than baseball.
Paige Parker's effectiveness is with the spin of the ball she throws
Paige's heat on her rise ball goes about 64 mph. Paige has a great slider which really spins and drops off of the table and she has a great changer-up which goes about 48 mph.
CT, the equivalent speed of a 70 mph softball pitch to a baseball pitch is 100 mph with regard to the batter's reaction time because of the difference in the distance from which the ball is thrown. Obviously each mph over 70 results in an equivalent speed above 100 mph. When I lived in Houston, Joe Morgan was with the Astros, and one night a lady softball pitcher threw her stuff to a few of the Astros before the game. Joe never got around on her. I can't recall at what speed she was throwing but only one Astro hit a fair ball.....I think it was Jimmy Wynn, but it could have Cesar Cedeno. I was a big Astro fan during the early '70's.
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Parker throws about 68 mph consistently....Lowary threw it 76 mph in the WCWS.
This was Parker. She throw's mid 60s at the highest. So she's ten MPH under some of what Paige two was throwing at the Gators. She might hurt somebody.
Here are the conversions for comparison, just to give an idea of the reaction time equivalencies. The pitching rubber is 43 ft in NCAA softball.... I wonder what the average distance of the release point might be
43 feet
to MLB 60.5 ft
Real Speed Equivalent
"Speed"
50 70
51 72
52 73
53 75
54 76
55 77
56 79
57 80
58 82
59 83
60 84
61 86
62 87
63 89
64 90
65 91
66 93
67 94
68 96
69 97
70 98
71 100
72 101
73 103
74 104
75 106
43 feet
to MLB 60.5 ft
Real Speed Equivalent
"Speed"
50 70
51 72
52 73
53 75
54 76
55 77
56 79
57 80
58 82
59 83
60 84
61 86
62 87
63 89
64 90
65 91
66 93
67 94
68 96
69 97
70 98
71 100
72 101
73 103
74 104
75 106
That's not totally accurate, because the timing isn't from the rubber. It's from the release point. When a 6'5 MLB pitcher releases a pitch, the ball comes out of his hand four feet or more in front of the rubber. A softball comes out of the hand less than 6 inches in front of the rubber. So it would change the ratio's a little. But it's still a short decision time.
Those MLB guys would be challenged to make any contact, without a lot of practice against the assortment of pitches that a softball pitcher throws. It's why Eddie Famer could go out there with a catcher and two fielders behind him, and pretty much beat all comers a generation ago. I promise, he was bringing it up there over 80. He hardly ever lost a game.
I think you mean Eddie Feigner. I got to see "The King and His Court" back in the 70s. He was amazing.
I agree on the release point, which is why I posed the question, but it seems to me that the girls are pretty far out in front of the rubber, too, even though they are releasing it from the hip, as opposed to the overhand release. Regardless, there isn't much time to react. And as you say, due to the aerodynamics of the larger ball and mechanics of the underhand motion, a good pitcher can put some nasty English on a softball.
You're right about the name. The King and his Court was doing that with two guys behind him into his 50s. He pitched blind folded occasionally. He was incredible.
I LOVED the video you posted. Put it on the premium side and on my Facebook page. The reactions of the Royals' hitters behind the catcher are priceless.
I LOVED the video you posted. Put it on the premium side and on my Facebook page. The reactions of the Royals' hitters behind the catcher are priceless.
That softball pitch is released next to the rubber hip. So it's barely in front of the rubber. Easily less than one foot. I think the distance is 43 foot. So It's about 42.5. But that measures to the back point of the plate, which is 17 inches from the front of the plate. So from the release point to the front of the plate would be right at 41 feet. It's a guess, but most players hitting zone would be half a foot in front of the plate, depending on their position in the box. So something less than 41 feet, but more than 40.
In baseball, the guys are bigger. So their hitting area would be further up, you'd think, but they are deeper in the box. I'd say that the release point is out close to over the off side knee. Maybe 4.5 feet in front of the rubber. So subtract four and a half from 60 feet six inches and you you'd get 56 feet. Subtract a foot and a half of plate, and another six inches of hitting zone in front of the plate, and you get about 54 feet. Not perfect. But I guarantee you with so many 6-5 pitchers, some taller, their release point would be well more than 54 inches in front of the rubber. Randy Johnson would be more than a foot closer that that. So in my view, we're comparing 54 feet to 41 feet. Not perfect, but less disparity.
The flip side is that the softball pitcher is much more able to hide the ball. But the ball is also bigger.
Either way, when somebody has A plus velocity for their sport, it's damn hard to hit against the best ones in either sport.
One other factor, you see a lot of girls getting hit in softball on purpose. Clifton was 26 times this season. It's close to one every other game. You don't see men in baseball taking 95 MPH fastballs on purpose, unless they're wearing a lot of gear.
I remember one night on the Tonight Show, when it was the Carson show, he had I think Jimmy Wynn up there in the studio trying to hit Joan Joyce, who was the preeminent Women's softball pitcher at the time. As I recall, she was first known for being very successful in ABC's made for TV sports event Superstars and winning a little. I think she actually excelled in two sports.
Wynn barely hit a foul ball against her. But it's the kind of thing with the different movement and closer rubber, it would take a while of learning the details to have any luck, no matter how talented. And Wynn had a huge swing, back when that was pretty common.
In baseball, the guys are bigger. So their hitting area would be further up, you'd think, but they are deeper in the box. I'd say that the release point is out close to over the off side knee. Maybe 4.5 feet in front of the rubber. So subtract four and a half from 60 feet six inches and you you'd get 56 feet. Subtract a foot and a half of plate, and another six inches of hitting zone in front of the plate, and you get about 54 feet. Not perfect. But I guarantee you with so many 6-5 pitchers, some taller, their release point would be well more than 54 inches in front of the rubber. Randy Johnson would be more than a foot closer that that. So in my view, we're comparing 54 feet to 41 feet. Not perfect, but less disparity.
The flip side is that the softball pitcher is much more able to hide the ball. But the ball is also bigger.
Either way, when somebody has A plus velocity for their sport, it's damn hard to hit against the best ones in either sport.
One other factor, you see a lot of girls getting hit in softball on purpose. Clifton was 26 times this season. It's close to one every other game. You don't see men in baseball taking 95 MPH fastballs on purpose, unless they're wearing a lot of gear.
I remember one night on the Tonight Show, when it was the Carson show, he had I think Jimmy Wynn up there in the studio trying to hit Joan Joyce, who was the preeminent Women's softball pitcher at the time. As I recall, she was first known for being very successful in ABC's made for TV sports event Superstars and winning a little. I think she actually excelled in two sports.
Wynn barely hit a foul ball against her. But it's the kind of thing with the different movement and closer rubber, it would take a while of learning the details to have any luck, no matter how talented. And Wynn had a huge swing, back when that was pretty common.
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Plaino, look at the release point for Jenny Finch in this video. She looks like she's four or five feet in front of the rubber before she lets it go. I don't watch as much softball as you do, but it seems to me like most of the pitchers get pretty close to the circle before they release it.
I stopped it at the release point on the grounder to second, and it's not as far up as you'd think. I don't have any way of showing it to you, but the ball is actually released behind her hip. The circle has a four foot radius. And her hand is less than two feet in front of the rubber. It's less than half way to the front of the circle when the ball comes out. So it is further up than I figured. But it's further back than it looks like at full speed.
The ball is actually further forward when she is at the top of the windmill, than it is at release point. She's listed at 6 feet tall, but looks a little taller. But if it's 43 feet, I'd say it's more than 41 to the back of the plate, maybe 41.3 and subtract two feet for front of the plate and hitting zone, that would reduce the release point to estimated hitting zone to 39.3. But the release point is definitely behind the hip. It took five tries, but the ball is shown in one instant to be two feet in front of the hip but out of the hand which is still trailing. I was surprised by both.
I don't think Finch threw 75. Just imagine trying to hit that stuff back before the moved the rubber back a couple of feet. The hitters had no chance. And they also had huge strike zones. I don't believe the strike zone rule has changed that much, but the way it's called generally is so much tighter than it used to be, especially in the Florida Series and this year's WCWS in general. Paige 1 had a hard time dealing with it, especially in game 2.
The ball is actually further forward when she is at the top of the windmill, than it is at release point. She's listed at 6 feet tall, but looks a little taller. But if it's 43 feet, I'd say it's more than 41 to the back of the plate, maybe 41.3 and subtract two feet for front of the plate and hitting zone, that would reduce the release point to estimated hitting zone to 39.3. But the release point is definitely behind the hip. It took five tries, but the ball is shown in one instant to be two feet in front of the hip but out of the hand which is still trailing. I was surprised by both.
I don't think Finch threw 75. Just imagine trying to hit that stuff back before the moved the rubber back a couple of feet. The hitters had no chance. And they also had huge strike zones. I don't believe the strike zone rule has changed that much, but the way it's called generally is so much tighter than it used to be, especially in the Florida Series and this year's WCWS in general. Paige 1 had a hard time dealing with it, especially in game 2.
