The two best at-bats
I’ve ever seen were Hernan Perez of the Brewers fouling off five 100 MPH-plus
pitches from then-Cub Aroldis Chapman in 2016 before singling on a changeup and
Clare last fall at the Elmhurst varsity-alumni game fouling off eight pitches
in a twelve-pitch at-bat that last lasted four minutes and seventeen seconds
before ending in a lineout to center field.
So, I would’ve liked to have seen the Giants’ Brandon Belt on Sunday
when he fouled off eleven straight pitches during a 21-pitch at-bat against
Jaime Barria of the Angels that also ended with a lineout, this time to right
field. Of course, baseball being
baseball, those seven extra pitches Belt saw as compared to my daughter
translated into an at-bat of twelve minutes, 45 seconds. Baseball can’t seem to do anything in a
timely fashion anymore.
But credit Belt with a
throwback approach to hitting. There’ve
always been hitters known for their ability to foul off pitches to keep an
at-bat alive; the White Sox Luke Appling was considered among the best. Of course, Appling retired in 1950, and
launch angles aren’t exactly retro.
Still, maybe Belt will
start a trend, an Appling-like revival.
Next, players could start making like Appling’s onetime Sox teammate
Nellie Fox, who struck out all of 216 times in 10,351 plate appearances. A guy can hope, can’t he?
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