Ground balls, fly balls, line drives — it didn't matter.
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Those ground balls and line drives are now routine outs.
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Some of the balls he is hitting for homers are line drives.
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You'll recall we got the Kardashian brood at a ballpark hitting line drives.
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He struck out five, walked one and was hit by two line drives.
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"It was one of those sinking line drives," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
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Just trying to be consistent, make some consistent hard contact, hard line drives.
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Scrappy kids dive into public pools and hit line drives with broken bats.
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More often, Buckeyes batters try to accumulate runs on ground balls and line drives.
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It was punch the ball and hit low line-drives to the opposite field.
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Miami scored twice in the first, producing three line drives against Scherzer's off-speed pitches.
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Of the first five Reds batters, there were four hard, line drives and one walk.
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He also took ground balls and line drives, and made throws to second and home plate.
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To be fair, however, he hit three line drives and didn't get any breaks all night.
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This season, Yankees pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino were struck by batting practice line drives.
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I have seen kids scared of the ball now hitting line drives all over the place.
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He had a single and two hard-hit line drives that were turned into outs Saturday night.
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" He added: "When line drives are coming right over the dugout, we're worried about getting hit ourselves.
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The result has been more hard-hit balls, and significantly more line drives, than he produced last year.
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Brown is attacking the paint without hesitation, off pin-downs and flairs and catch-and-accelerate line drives.
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Stay attached on pick and rolls, not give him any easy look, especially line drives to the basket.
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His line drives are hit with such force that fielders are left with no choice but to freeze.
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"Just hitting line drives, that's all I'm trying to do," said Gregorius, who hit 20 homers last season.
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I mean, there were times when we had direct-line drives, and instead we were looking cross court.
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When Teixeira hits right-handed, his right hand tends to roll over more forcefully, leading to more line drives.
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Leonard was the technician, whose left-handed stroke scattered line drives that carried almost by accident over the fence.
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"We've been connecting well, hitting line drives and not trying to hit home runs," said Marte, via interpreter Mark Gonzalez.
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With those pitches, Johnson wanted to hit line drives or hard ground balls up the middle or toward left field.
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As fly balls and line drives were hit at them, Landis broke with Mostil at the crack of the bat.
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This made him unpredictable and forced your defense to spread out more, which created safe havens for his line drives.
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By rushing his swing, Duda was rolling over pitches and producing weak ground balls instead of hard-hit line drives.
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"Their line drives were a lot longer than ours tonight, and that's the truth of it," Reds manager Bryan Price said.
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I enter a nightclub sheathed in neon, where a thumping bass line drives away the cemetery silence of the city outside.
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As it stands now, his drives look like strong straight-line drives, lacking in the nervy jumpiness of most European dribblemen.
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Judge, their 6-foot-23, 282-pound slugger, grabbed a bat and proceeded to spray line drives all over Target Field.
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He had a sweet swing, with a one-handed finish (Seager's is two-handed), and sprayed line drives all over the field.
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Line drives will still go out to the bleachers, but if you're going to hit fly balls, they're going to be outs.
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Yankees fielders caught five line drives, with Chase Headley twice turning in acrobatic plays at third on balls hit by Alcides Escobar.
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"I think just the fourth quarter we gave up a lot of open threes, and a lot of straight line drives," Wall said.
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I was doing good, and all of a sudden I'm hitting line drives and nothing falls — and then I start putting bad at-bats.
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Philadelphia opened the scoring in the second inning with three line drives to left — singles by Scott Kingery and Jorge Alfaro before Altherr's RBI double.
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Ervin Santana (239-24) gave up two hits over seven innings, aided by two diving catches of sinking line drives by center fielder Byron Buxton.
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Line drives to center by DeSclafani and Eugenio Suarez and a liner by Zack Cozart that was snared on a dive by second baseman Jed Lowrie.
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His strikeouts are down, his walks are up, and according to the website FanGraphs, he is hitting more line drives than any season in his career.
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While the Dodgers managed only four hits against Lester, they hit a handful of line drives right at Cubs defenders, and Fowler alone saved two hits.
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You see a hitter who repeats the same stroke over and over; a stroke that stays in the zone and sprays line drives all over the field.
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His fans state clearly that he swings the bat harder than most of his contemporary players, and some say that his line drives also sound completely different.
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"These line drives, which blaze into the stands at 100 miles an hour, leave fans with little to no time to react," Espinal said at the time.
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DiPuglia was enchanted by Soto's knowledge of the strike zone, his ability to recognize off-speed pitches and smash line drives off the barrel to all fields.
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He had, however, hit four line drives that were caught by outfielders, including one that Andrew Romine snagged with a shoestring catch and another sacrifice fly earlier Wednesday.
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In addition to his line drives, Suzuki was a top-notch defender and an above-average base stealer, giving him a skill set that sticks out among his peers.
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The ex-Eagles QB says it's most apparent when Brady throws the deeper balls -- 'cause Ron is seeing a whole lot more rainbow passes than TB12's normal line drives.
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Seattle's Wade Miley lost his last five starts and opposes J.A. Happ, who was struck by two line drives in his last outing and pitches on two days extra rest.
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HOUSTON (AP) -- Home runs kept flying over the wall at Minute Maid Park, on line drives up toward the train tracks, on fly balls that just dropped over the fence.
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Miley was unable to get through the first inning in his last turn after he was hit with a pair of line drives before he was removed for precautionary reasons.
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First, he allowed himself to explode upwards into the ball as he swung, significantly increasing the number of line drives he hit, at the expense of some ground balls the opposite way.
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And his team responded by stringing together sharp grounders and line drives like so many pearls and claiming a 6-5 victory to secure a spot in the National League Championship Series.
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Harvey gave up two runs and seven hits to the Braves, although five of those hits were soft line drives, including an opposite-field, run-scoring double by the rookie Mallex Smith.
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"I thought (Eickhoff) got tired in that seventh inning, a couple line drives and one lost in the lights that hurt, and he hung a curveball with two strikes to Santana," Mackanin said.
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The veteran right-hander praised center fielder Cameron Maybin for a fistful of fine defensive plays, third baseman Yunel Escobar for grabbing two line drives and catcher Martin Maldonado for calling an exquisite game.
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His blond goatee whiskers and notable nimbleness earned him the nickname Squirrel during his days diving for line drives as an outfielder at Long Beach State, and he has continued to pounce on any opportunity.
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If you've ever felt your knees buckle on a curveball, or had your pride wounded by a barrage of line drives off your pitches, Cody Allen speaks for you: "This game is humbling," he said.
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Braves RH Mike Foltynewicz (6-5, 4.50) After a pair of solid years for Minnesota in 2.493-15, the 28-year-old Gibson is giving up more line drives and more homers while allowing 10.7 hits per nine innings.
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A disturbing image, it became the latest example of the dangers fans can face when they sit close to the field at baseball games, potentially putting themselves in range of line drives or, in the case on Wednesday, a broken bat.
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They rode solo homers from Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber — line drives to right that avoided the teeth of the wind — and the Gold Glove work of right fielder Jason Heyward to carry a 203-0 lead into the ninth.
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He has been hit by line drives at least three other times — in the face in 25.24, one that broke his pitching hand in 230 that caused him to miss the postseason and in the foot in spring training prior to this season.
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He has shown promise putting the ball on the floor for one-dribble pull-ups and line drives to the basket, but has a long way to go before he can be the sort of player the Knicks can play through on every possession.
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He doesn't hit many homers, but he does everything else: gets on top of eye-high fastballs, stings line-drives, starts rapid-fire double plays, swipes bags and loses his helmet in the process, revealing a blazing tangle of bleached hair (which injured starter Carlos Carrasco sometimes takes care of).
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When they were counting their money or posing for television cameras, Yawkey would be off somewhere fishing or hunting with a couple of his players, or in the summer when the game was over and the crowds had left Fenway Park he would put on spikes and baseball pants and a sweat shirt and get Johnny Orlando, the maitre de clubhouse, to pitch to him he could hit line drives off that left-field wall.
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It was amended in 1904 to exclude line drives, and in 1920 to also exclude bunts.
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A line drive is a batted ball hit into the air that travels with a relatively flat trajectory ("on a line"). Batters generally have a higher batting average on line drives, as line drives are typically hit harder than fly balls or ground balls and the flatter trajectory makes them harder to catch. These same tendencies also make line drives dangerous. In 2007, first base coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed when a line drive hit him in the head during a minor league game.
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Batted balls are also classified by their trajectory. The most common of these trajectory-based classifications are fly balls, line drives, and ground balls.
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Additionally, the infield fly rule is not applied to bunts popped-up in the air. Instead, the intentional drop rule (Rule 6.05l) that also applies to line drives can be invoked.
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Adept at mimicking catching long fly balls and line drives that he was actually unable to apprehend, he often fooled hitters into settling for singles when they could have taken extra bases.
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Power up pitches include a "super splitter" (that splits the ball into two pieces) and a literal "fireball". Fielding power ups include a "brick wall" that instantly stops a ball and a "super jump" to catch high line drives or rob home runs.
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A ground ball (or grounder) is a batted ball that is hit at a low enough trajectory that it hits the ground a short distance after being hit and then rolls or bounces on the ground. In some situations dependent on which bases are occupied by runners, a ground ball can result in a double play, often via a force out. Ground balls are distinct from line drives and fly balls that hit the ground and bounce afterwards; the distinction is that ground balls are hit towards the ground, while fly balls and line drives are hit away from the ground and only hit the ground as an end result.
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548 SLG through that game. Despite the drop-off in the power numbers, he continued to hit well against the shift. As of June 10, he was batting .390 (16 for 41) on ground balls and line drives against the shift with three home runs for the year.
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In center, he was highly capable at tracking down fly balls and line drives, but had a weak throwing arm. He was a consistent hitter, but only had mild home run power. Throughout the early 1990s he hit in the middle of the order as management tried to figure out where his best fit was.
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1945 South Bend Blue Sox. Retrieved 2019-04-07. During her two years in the AAGPBL, Ganote played excellent defense at first base and led the circuit in fielding average at her position in 1944. As a batter, she displayed ability to get on base, ran the bases well, and consistently hit line drives.
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Wilson debuted for the Baltimore Black Sox in 1922. Though Wilson was referred to as "Babe Ruth Wilson" by the media, his teammates nicknamed him "Boojum" after the noise his line drives made after striking the outfield fences. The team went on a 12-game winning streak after Wilson joined the club. He finished his first season with a .
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In 1925 hit a .298 batting average for Columbus, and .317 in 38 games in 1926, before joining the Boston Red Sox during the midseason to become the team's regular second baseman for the next five years. Basically a line drive hitter and smart baserunner, Regan had good contact and was able to convert his gap line drives into extra bases.
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Newhan hit left-handed and right-handed pitchers equally well.As of July 4, 2007, Newhan's batting average against lefties was just 6 points higher than against righties, while his OPS was just 3 points higher against righties than against lefties. His swing was compact and level, mostly generating line drives and groundballs. He batted from every position in the batting order, but mostly batted second through 2008.
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His nickname, Boom-Boom, was earned while pitching at Baker Bowl against the Phillies in 1934. He allowed numerous line drives that struck the outfield wall, each time making a booming sound. Manager Casey Stengel sought to remove Beck from the game. Frustrated with his performance and for being removed, Beck threw the baseball at the outfield wall, where it hit and made another booming sound.
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He ended Joe DiMaggio's record hit streak at 56 on July 17, 1941 before a then- record night crowd (67,468) in Cleveland. Keltner made two stops of DiMaggio line drives, one a brilliant backhanded stab. According to baseball historian Bill James in the 1994 book, Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?, a movement briefly developed to elect Keltner to the Hall of Fame.
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Lloyd could not run well by that time and he shifted to playing first base, but a former teammate said that he was still able to hit line drives. Lloyd was a janitor for the Atlantic City School System, including Atlantic City High School. Though he did not have any children, Lloyd became a popular coach in the local youth baseball league. He died in 1964.
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A total of 15.4 percent of balls put in play against Matz were line drives, the lowest rate in the MLB for a pitcher throwing at least 140 innings, and 48.8 percent of those in play against him were grounders, the ninth-highest percentage in the National League. Matz increased his strikeout-to-walk ratio from 11.8 in the first half of the season to 18.6 by the end.
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Andrew H. "Jap" Payne (December 6, 1879 – August 22, 1942) was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues. He played multiple positions, including outfield and infield. Standing at 5-foot-10 inches, Payne was described as "unimposing," but he became known for slapping line drives past infielders, as well as having an excellent arm. Payne was rumored to have gotten the nickname "Jap" due to his slanted eyes.
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Shuba pursued his goal, however, developing his "natural" swing by practicing for hours with a rope that was tied to the ceiling. He made knots in the rope where the strike zone would be and swung a bat at the rope 600 times a day. This rigorously observed ritual prepared Shuba to compete in the major leagues, where his powerful line drives later earned him the nickname, "Shotgun".
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Solo Exhibition, Reynolds-Minor Gallery, Richmond. In 1985 he exhibited: Solo Exhibition, Henri Gallery; Still Life, group show, Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, Virginia; Objects, group show, Reynolds-Minor Gallery; Atypical Still Life, group show, at Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia; and Fifteen Contemporary Sculptors, at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center. In 1986 he participated in Line Drives: The Baseball Art Show, group exhibition, Cooperstown, New York and in the Whitney Biennial.
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Cobb had won the previous nine consecutive AL batting titles; Speaker outhit him with a .386 batting average compared to Cobb's .371. The center field fence at Cleveland's Dunn Field was from home plate until it was shortened to in 1920. Even so, Speaker played so shallow in the outfield that he was able to execute six career unassisted double plays at second base, catching low line drives on the run and then beating baserunners to the bag.
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By the time the season rolled around, his wife Jean Faut was a successful and established pitcher. She led the league in strikeouts (135), tied for seventh in wins (15), and ranked third in earned run average (1.33) and in shutouts (seven). Wagoner, who was proficient at hitting line drives, played 110 games and hit a .272 average (102-for-375), driving in 41 runs and scoring 77 times to set career numbers in both categories.
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On March 15, 1977, the Cubs traded Coleman to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Jim Todd. Oakland owner Charlie Finley released Coleman in the spring, but then reversed the decision after being told Coleman had a two-year contract that would have to be paid. Coleman rebounded during the 1977 season with the assistance of a hypnotist. In addition to the skull fracture sustained in 1971, Coleman had been hit by line drives 10 or 12 times in 1974.
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Listed at 6 ft 1 in and 176 lb,Hayato Sakamoto mlb.com Sakamoto has a relatively large frame for a Japanese middle infielder. He is a spray hitter whose swing is characterized by a pronounced leg kick. Though the majority of his extra-base hits tend to be line drives into the alleys (37 doubles in 653 career at-bats as of May 13, 2009), many predict that Sakamoto will develop home run power as his body fills out.
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Currently there is a new trend of introducing a pitcher helmet to provide head protection from batters hitting line drives back to the pitcher. , MLB approved a protective pitchers cap which can be worn by any pitcher if they choose. San Diego Padres relief pitcher, Alex Torres was the first player in MLB to wear the protective cap. One style of helmet is worn on top of the ballcap to provide protection to the forehead and sides.
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The term came to be associated with the line drives hit by Shoeless Joe Jackson and was popularized by ballplayer and sportscaster Dizzy Dean. A "blue darter" is also a Midwestern and Southern colloquialism for either a fast hawk or a quick snake darting through a bush. Coach Shoot had previously attempted a business venture to market wooden baseball bats under the brand name "Blue Darter." When that endeavor fizzled, he re-purposed the name to his award for sportsmanship.
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The first is by catching a line drive and returning to first base to tag the base before a baserunner can return. This is rare because the first baseman is usually slower than most baserunners who generally return to their bases on line drives near any fielder. The second is by getting an infield hit to the right when there is a runner on first, tagging the runner and returning to the first base in time to get the man running towards him.
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Pepper is a common pre-game exercise in which one player hits brisk grounders and line drives to a group of fielders who are standing about twenty feet away. The fielders throw balls to the batter, who uses a short, light swing to hit the ball on the ground towards the fielders. The fielders field the ground balls and continue tossing the ball to the batter. This exercise keeps the fielders and batter alert, and helps to develop quickness and good hand-eye coordination.
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He started the first two by catching line drives, and the third was a ground ball double play to end the game. In game four, Green also started a game-ending double play. In the eighth inning of the clinching game five, Green made a perfect relay throw to get Bill Buckner, representing the tying run, out at third base. The six double plays Green participated in during the 1974 World Series tied the record for most defensive double plays in a five-game series.
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317 batting average. According to Hal Smith, his roommate with Birmingham, Virdon changed his approach to hitting, prioritizing line drives to all parts of the field, rather than trying to hit for power. Virdon remained stuck behind Mickey Mantle on the Yankees' depth chart for center field, while Gene Woodling and Hank Bauer played the corner outfield positions. The Yankees traded Virdon to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1954 season with Mel Wright and Emil Tellinger for veteran outfielder and All-Star Enos Slaughter.
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When Nomar was a young boy, his father stressed the importance of not striking out, offering him 25 cents for each hit in tee ball and fining him 50 cents for every strikeout. When Nomar was 13, Ramon once put him in a batting cage against a college pitcher who could throw . After missing the first pitch, Nomar proceeded to hit solid line drives on the next two pitches. As a boy, Nomar was nicknamed "No Nonsense Nomar" for his methodical and tireless preparation as an athlete.
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Exterior of the Richmond Olympic Oval with Water Sky Garden sculpture by artist Janet Echelman Aspac Developments Ltd purchased of land adjacent to the Fraser River and the finished $178 million Richmond Olympic Oval. The $1 billion plan includes 16 high-density towers, up to 14 stories in height.Richmond News – Canada Line drives massive development – 8 May 2007 The towers will be stepped toward the waterfront and will include trees and green space. Aspac's plans are for "probably the highest-end development Richmond has seen to date" said Mayor Brodie.
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Amusingly, the book also contains entries for such fictional pitchers as Sidd Finch, Damon Rutherford (from the novel The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.) and even Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame (who, the book dryly notes, "gave up an unusual number of line drives up the middle"). The third section contains five sabermetric essays on pitching written by James. One of these essays deals with the "Pitcher Abuse Points" statistic developed by Baseball Prospectus, and this essay is followed by a response by Prospectus writers Rany Jazayerli and Keith Woolner.
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The pursuit of one task after another forms a through-line of action, which unites the discrete bits into an unbroken continuum of experience. This through-line drives towards a task operating at the scale of the drama as a whole and is called, for that reason, a "supertask" (or "superobjective"). A performance consists of the inner aspects of a role (experiencing) and its outer aspects ("embodiment") that are united in the pursuit of the supertask. In his later work, Stanislavski focused more intently on the underlying patterns of dramatic conflict.
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In the case of the hit and run, the baserunner has a head start, increasing the baserunner's probability of reaching second base before the ball. This may force the fielders to attempt the out only at first, thereby advancing the runner. It may also allow the runner to advance more bases on a hit than he might otherwise due to that running head start. Although a line drive can easily turn into a double play, line drives are rare so the risk of being doubled off from a line drive is minimal.
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Straight line drives such as threaded nut/bolt drives change drive rate when converted to a circular motion. It is also time consuming to reset via spinning the nut back to the starting point. Amateurs have tackled this by employing curved bolt designs and even using specially shaped cams to convert the straight line motion to a variable speed motion. High mechanical loadings from heavy telescopes or using them at low geographic latitudes can cause the mount to bind up, requiring more complicated improved bearing surfaces to overcome this.
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After the season, Hunter signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent, clearing an opportunity for Bourjos regain regular playing time. To increase his production at the plate, Bourjos began taking batting practice off a tee before the 2013 season. His strategy was to change his approach by hitting more ground balls and line drives, and fewer fly balls. In 2011, he had posted a ground ball rate of 46.8 percent. In 2013, he had raised that total to 58.7 percent, which was top-ten for hitters with at least 170 plate appearances.
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Lonnie Summers (August 2, 1915 - August 24, 1999), nicknamed "Carl", was an American Negro league infielder from the 1930s to the 1950s. A native of Davis, Oklahoma, Summers attended Jacob Riis High School in Los Angeles, California. A strong hitter known for his powerful line drives, he made his Negro leagues debut in 1938 with the Baltimore Elite Giants. Summers played several years in the Mexican League, and served in the United States Army in World War II. After his wartime service, Summers played for the Chicago American Giants, and was selected to play in the 1949 East–West All-Star Game.
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Mark Ellis of the Oakland Athletics hit for the cycle in 2007. The second baseman catches line drives or pop flies hit near him, and fields ground balls hit near him and then throws the ball to a base to force out a runner. In this case, if the runner is to be forced out at second base then that base is covered by the shortstop. With a runner on first base, on a ground ball to the shortstop or third baseman the second baseman will cover second base to force out the runner coming from first.
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It ended on August 27, 2005, when Marquis pitched a 2-hitter against the Washington Nationals, for his first career shutout. Overall Marquis posted a 13–14 record, with a 4.13 ERA in 207 innings pitched. He appeared in 33 games, starting 32, and completing 3 (6th in the NL). He gave up the second- lowest percentage of line drives in the NL (17.3%), induced 29 double plays (T-4th in the league), and was 4th with 1.26 GIDP/9 IP.Jason Marquis, FanGraphs, accessed 6/6/07 In the postseason he worked out of the bullpen in the NLCS, after not being used in the Division Series, and pitched in three games, finished with a 3.38 ERA.
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A third baseman must possess good hand-eye coordination and quick reactions in order to catch hard line drives sometimes in excess of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h).Brian A. Raue PhD page Third basemen often must begin in a position even closer to the batter if a bunt is expected, creating a hazard if the ball is instead hit sharply. As with middle infielders, right-handed throwing players are standard at the position because they do not need to turn their body before throwing across the infield to first base. Mike Squires, who played fourteen games at third base in 1982 and 1983, is a very rare example of a third baseman who threw lefty.
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Bill Veeck, then-owner of the Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line drives, and deep fly balls. At the other end of the spectrum, there are nine 300-game winners—Grover Cleveland Alexander, Kid Nichols, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens and Tom Glavine—who failed to pitch a no-hitter. On August 11, 1991, Wilson Álvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter.
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Historically, there have been numerous players who have hit 20 doubles and 20 home runs in a year. It is the component of triples, however, that makes the 20–20–20 club so difficult to achieve. This is because hitting triples often comes under a similar hit placement as doubles, but may require impressive speed on the part of the runner. This would pose a challenge for both a slugger, who may be slower at running the bases and have the tendency to hit line drives and fly balls out of the park for a home run, as well as a speedster, who may be more swift around the bases but may not supply much power to drive the ball far.
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He also holds the baseball record for most seasons with 400 total bases or more, accomplishing this feat five times in his career. He batted fourth in the lineup behind Ruth, making intentionally walking Ruth counterproductive for opposing pitchers. Unlike Ruth, Gehrig looked like he had the muscles of a power hitter. Ruth usually hit home runs as high fly balls, while Gehrig's were line drives. During the 10 seasons (1925–1934) in which Gehrig and Ruth were teammates and next to each other in the batting order and played a majority of the games, Gehrig had more home runs than Ruth only once, in 1934 (which was Ruth's last year with the Yankees), when he hit 49 to Ruth's 22 (Ruth played 125 games that year).
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While playing for the AAA Montreal Royals in 1946, Shuba offered a congratulatory handshake to teammate Jackie Robinson, who went on to become the first African American to play in a major league game since the late 19th century. The moment was captured in a well-known photograph dubbed A Handshake for the Century for featuring the first interracial handshake in a professional baseball game. In the early 1970s, Shuba's major league career was featured in a chapter of Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer, a tribute to the 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers. Kahn observed in his book that Shuba earned his nickname, "Shotgun", by "spraying line drives with a swing so compact that it appeared as natural as a smile".
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In the second game of doubleheader on July 30, 1969, the Houston Astros, after scoring 11 runs in the ninth inning of the first game, were in the midst of a 10-run third inning, hitting a number of line drives to left field. When the Mets' star left fielder Cleon Jones failed to hustle after a ball hit to the outfield, Hodges removed him from the game, but rather than simply signal from the dugout for Jones to come out, or delegate the job to one of his coaches, Hodges left the dugout and slowly, deliberately, walked all the way out to left field to remove Jones, and walked him back to the dugout, which was a resounding message to the whole team. Jones reportedly never again had to be reminded to hustle.
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The main character, Danny "Kiss of the Wolf" Bacigalupo, a baseball player from Chicago's North Side with "blood on his bat." In an open letter to his son, Danny recaps his life and explains how an accidental death, guilt, Catholicism, amnesia, a good glove, a good level swing, and the love of a fat woman with beautiful eyes can shape a life. Profoundly influenced by the accidental death of a neighborhood kid during a ball game (one of Danny's line drives struck him in the Adam's apple), Danny "suffers" the schizophrenic presence of the dead boy throughout high school, the minor leagues, and major league baseball. Bacigalupo's story begins with a flippant, jocular tone; however, it quickly hits a comfortable, engaging stride, describing the thrills, agonies, and occasional epiphanies of growing up Catholic, Italian, poor, and naturally athletic.
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444 on-base percentage (third behind Ruth and Cobb), 43 doubles (third behind Tris Speaker and Ruth), and 76 extra base hits (third behind Ruth and Bob Meusel). Heilmann's batting average in 1921 was 85 points higher than his 1920 average and 101 points higher than his career average prior to 1921. Some attributed Heilmann's dramatic improvement to the tutelage of Ty Cobb, who took over as the Tigers' manager in 1921. Others attributed Heilmann's improvement to the "live-ball era" that started in 1920 and forced outfielders to spread out and play deeper, allowing more of Heilmann's line drives to fall into the wider gaps. However, Frank G. Menke attributed his improvement to having learned the game, noting that the "lively ball" failed to account for the fact that those who outhit Heilmann from 1914 to 1920 were no longer outhitting him.
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Commentators often refer to the ball accelerating to the boundary on fast outfields, but this only physically occurs on grounds with a slope and on which the ball is moving downhill. In baseball, a slow, damp outfield is usually considered an advantage for the hitter, in as much as a batted ball will not travel as quickly to an outfielder in the traditional deep position for fly balls, and thus may permit additional advance by batters and other runners on the basepaths. In addition, a wet, slick ball can not be thrown with the accuracy of a dry one, also permitting the opportunity for additional advance on the bases. Moreover, a wet field generally slows the footspeed of the defense, so fielders will be able to reach fewer flies and line drives in the air before they go through to the fences.
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