Talk:Switch hitter

Article quality

This entire page is poorly organized and written. The "three reasons" given for switch hitting are simply derivatives of the same idea--the platoon advantage--and could be explained much more effectively.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 148.85.226.162 (talk • contribs) 05:41, 10 April 2007.

Misleading

For instance, New York Yankees great Mickey Mantle always considered himself a better right-handed hitter, but actually has more home runs batting left-handed. But it could be argued that this claim is misleading as many of Mantle's left-handed home runs were struck at Yankee Stadium, a park notorious for being very friendly to left-handed hitters due to the short right field porch.

This could also be misleading because a switch hitter typically bats far more often against Right handed pitchers resulting in higher cumulative totals as a left handed hitter. --Cglied 19:53, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

• Indeed, that is the case, as the Mick has more than double the number of at bats lefty he does right-handed. And his slugging percentage right-handed is higher than left-handed, as is his batting average and OBP. It's pretty hard to argue he was in anyway way, shape, or form a better left-handed hitter than right-handed hitter.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 148.85.226.162 (talk • contribs) 05:38, 10 April 2007.

• He did have more power as a left - about once every 14 at bats, vs once ever 16.3 as a righty. His right AVG/OBP/SLG is better across the board, but it's thanks to singles, doubles, and triples. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.82.12.166 (talk) 00:03, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Chipper Jones

Isn't Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves a switch-hitter, and one of the more accomplished ones? Zeus982 21:02, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

• Chipper is indeed a switch hitter. His stats are very similar from either side of the plate, though he has a bit more power right-handed.—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 148.85.226.162 (talk • contribs) 05:41, 10 April 2007.

Hall of Fame Switch Hitters

• The article mentions "Hall of Fame-caliber switch hitters" -- how many are there, just out of curiosity? I can think of Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray -- are they the only two?The Invisible Man (talk) 00:48, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
• Chipper Jones should make it to the hall. Ozzie Smith is already in it, but not for his hitting. Pete Rose is HoF-caliber, just won't get it for obvious reasons. Alomar and Raines are probably short of the mark, but it's not ridiculous.

Anyway, I'd go with there being four: Mantle, Murray, Rose, Jones.

Early Wynn was a switch-hitting pitcher, a Hall-of-Fame pitcher and a relatively good hitter. He coul be added to the list of bats-both pitchers. WHPratt (talk) 05:24, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

"Mr. Wynn could win not only with his pitching and his exceptional fielding, but also with his bat. In the league's pre-designated-hitter days, the switch-hitting hurler hit over .270 four times, including 1946, when he hit .319 for the Senators. He also made 90 appearances as a pinch-hitter, and he once hit a pinch-hit, grand slam home run." -- http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/04/07/baseball-hall-of-famer-early-wynn-dies-at-79/275d587f-e290-436f-b1ec-e903bc1a92eb/

WHPratt (talk) 01:54, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

Re: "Management also had a say in the switch-hitting careers of Bob Gibson and Dwight Gooden. Both Gibson and Gooden—each right-handed, and a fine hitting pitcher—had reached the major leagues as a switch-hitter, and both their teams required them to bat only right-handed, to reduce the possibility of their pitching arms being hit by a pitch." I used to wonder why Sandy Koufax, the great southpaw hurler, was permitted to bat right handed: that was one valuable left arm directly exposed to the enemy's firepower for no purpose whatever: Koufax was a terrible hitter! WHPratt (talk) 01:40, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

Cricket

This whole section is factually very dubious.

Firstly, the 'switch-hit' in cricket is simply an extension of the 'reverse sweep', the main difference being that the hands are swapped over before the shot is played.

Kevin Pietersen may well have claimed to have invented the shot, but it has been done before, notably by Jonty Rhodes against the bowling of Shane Warne. In addition, the ODI against NZ was not the first time Pietersen had played the shot, having done so, also against Warne, in 2005. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.140.209.154 (talk) 11:30, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. "Switch-hitting" is a meaningless concept in cricket, because there is no plate that batsmen have to decide which side to stand on. I'm removing the whole section. Lfh (talk) 11:20, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

An anonymous editor clearly has strong feelings about keeping this section, so let's give it a go, but I'm editing it to make clear that "switch hitting" in cricket is not the same thing as in baseball. Lfh (talk) 16:36, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

It belongs in the article Switch hit. The only connection here was an unreferenced throw-away line "this has been compared to switch-hitting." This is clearly and article about the baseball term/tactic, and since there is an article about the cricket term/tactic, there is no need for the material here. StAnselm (talk) 11:23, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Aha! This section explains my bafflement. The "Switch hit" link under "See Also" was a mega-non-sequitur. I see that it was a residue of this dispute (and adequately addressed in the "about" template at top). I delete it. --Danaxtell (talk) 05:37, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

Interesting fact

It's an interesting fact (well, at least to me, which is why it's here and not in the article) that professional baseballs only current switch pitcher (Pat Venditte) bats exclusively right handed. There is an interview with him somewhere where he says it, but I can't find it right now. Since he's an AL player it's pretty useless info, but his one pro AB so far was right handed. Cryomaniac (talk) 19:08, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Pat Venditte's page on the Creighton University website says he was a switch hitter in college (Bats: B; Throws: B). His official Minor League Baseball page (on milb.com) says he bats right and throws left, so that's plainly inaccurate. I agree with Cryomaniac that Venditte's batting is an interesting fact--and worthy of inclusion in the main article. He's not playing at all just now because of the right arm surgery, so the answer is currently indeterminate. The question remains: How does Pat bat? --Danaxtell (talk) 04:37, 19 May 2013 (UTC)

"Criticism" section

"Sometimes coaches will teach a right-handed hitter to bat left-handed simply to have the extra step to first base, thereby allowing faster players to get on base more often. However this method may sacrifice contact or power until fully mastered." Maury Wills is an example of this. A great base stealer, had no power at the plate anyway. Fe'd been a righthanded hitter until 1962. WHPratt (talk) 17:46, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

If you have a source, I think this would be a great addition to the article. Geeky Randy (talk) 05:00, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

A Google search for "Maury Wills" and "switch hitter" reveals that Bobby Bragan, manager of the Dodgers' AAA team at Spokane, turned Wills into a switch-hitter in 1958. You can find some speculation that it was to take advantage of his speed, but I can't find a reliable source saying so flat-out. (I'd swear that I'd seen a 1961 baseball card that said Wills "Bats Right," but that may have been in error.) Someone may want to search further, using Wills and Bragan as keywords. WHPratt (talk) 01:18, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

I've removed this section for now. Leaving unconfirmed stuff around for even one minute isn't a good idea. This was tagged well over a year ago and still hasn't been sourced. Perhaps this will motivate someone to produce a properly sourced and balanced section on this subtopic, if that is possible. --TS 13:58, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

It would be difficult to confirm. There can be no doubt that a lefty swing gives one a better start towards first base, but reversing one's natural swing to gain so small an advantage would necessarily be a risky thing to do, unless one is a weak hitter anyway.

Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Cubs, once put it into perspective. A right-handed batter hit a grounder to deep shortstop, and was thrown out by a hair. "Close play!" said Brickhouse. "If he'd have been a lefthanded batter, he'd have been safe." After a moment's contemplation, he went on -- with a chuckle -- "Of course, if he'd been a lefthanded batter, he'd have probably hit that grounder to the secondbaseman, and he'd have been an easy out." There's the rub. (That's strictly from memory, and probably isn't subject to confirmation.) WHPratt (talk) 15:55, 29 June 2012 (UTC)