Baseball On The Web DUGOUT CHAT Tom Magedanz - 04.07.2000

Like almost everything else these days, information about baseball has been dramatically altered by the Internet. On the right day, I can send a question on hitting mechanics to the former major league hitting coach of the Oakland Athletics, and quite often, he will answer me, personally. Or I can find a site with a huge assortment of baseball instructional videos for sale, or up-to-the-minute major league results and boxscores. Another site occasionally includes slow motion video clips of major league hitters and pitchers in their discussion board to illustrate points being made. Last summer you could get on your computer and follow the action at the South Dakota State Legion Baseball Tournament in Pierre. Or I can see how Pierre's Jesse Beesley did yesterday pitching for Lynn University in Florida; last season I could check on former Pierre Teener coach Brandon Mozley's progress with the Ozark Mountain Ducks of the Texas-Louisiana League or former Post 8 standout Tyson Lindekugel's day with the Springfield Capitals in the Frontier League.

You wouldn't be reading this if you weren't already aware of some of what the Internet has to offer for baseball players, coaches, and fans, but the scope and types of information available is nothing short of amazing. The Links item on this site is a good place to start for baseball stuff on the Internet, but there's a vast amount of material out there. Everything from following heated arguments about no-stride hitting or counter-rotating in the pitching windup to finding a place to buy a 1958 Sports Illustrated issue with Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio on the cover (EBay).

One major Internet baseball category, as one would expect, concerns information and commentary about major league baseball. Sports Illustrated, ESPN, The Sporting News, USA Today, CBS SportsLine and other major sports news organizations maintain web sites for baseball fans, and these provide up-to-the minute coverage of major league baseball, with some additional information on minor league and college baseball. In addition, all major league teams maintain their own web sites, and many individuals create unofficial web sites for their favorite teams or players. There are thousands of web sites covering individual college, high school, Legion, travel, and Little League teams, such as the one you're visiting now for Pierre Post 8 Baseball.

To sort all this out, you can use another category of baseball web sites that primarily contain "links" to other baseball sites. The links are categorized by topic, such as major league baseball, college baseball, instructional information and materials, baseball products and equipment, youth baseball, baseball history, fantasy baseball, baseball memorabilia, and so on. Links sites are great places to start in locating baseball information on the Internet. Two excellent sites are Skilton's Baseball Links and Aaron's Baseball Links. Both of these will quickly help you find sites in areas of interest and will lead you to still more baseball links.

I particularly enjoy instructional baseball web sites. These often involve a "discussion board" or "message board" which allows individuals to write in their questions and comments to be answered by the owner of the site or by other interested readers. Discussion boards are not to be confused with "chat rooms" which essentially provide real time conversation. Discussion boards
or forums sometimes generate great discussion of hitting and pitching methods, as well as some heated, angry arguments. However, since anybody with a computer can post a message to a discussion board, you have to use some discretion in deciding whom to believe. After a while you'll get a feel for the various arguments and schools of thought regarding hitting and pitching mechanics and conditioning methods and you'll be able to make some judgments as to whether or not this guy knows what he's talking about or is at least familiar with the opposing arguments. Or is he just repeating what he was taught years ago when he played in high school or reciting the ideas of the web site owner?

There are many disagreements, even between experts (especially between experts), about proper hitting and pitching mechanics. It would be nice to simply find a book, video, private hitting instructor, camp, clinic, or an Internet site that would have all the answers, but unfortunately, that one magic method does not exist. This leaves it up to individual coaches and players to learn as much about the different methods and theories as they can and use their best judgment as to what's best for their situation. That's where Internet discussion boards are useful. They do a great job of exposing and explaining opposing viewpoints and letting you judge for yourself. There's a lot of information out there, but still no shortcuts and no miracles for improving your game.

One note of caution. Most (not all, but most) baseball instruction web sites have something to sell. The discussion boards are free, but the web site's purpose is to provide advertising and exposure for the owner's product; usually the product is instructional videos or other instructional, training, or conditioning equipment or materials. There's nothing wrong with that, but you should be aware of what the site owner is selling and what his point of view is before making judgments on the validity of his statements (or before purchasing his product). He obviously has a personal and financial interest in having people accept and believe in his ideas.


Some of my favorite instructional or youth baseball-oriented Internet sites include the following. The SETPRO Company has probably the most interesting discussion boards (see Hitting Forum, Pitching Forum), although they can get technical sometimes (there'll be physics equations). They often include slow motion video clips of major leaguers, as well as little leaguers and other players, for analysis and discussion. Their views on hitting and pitching mechanics are middle-of-the-road, and they don't promote any new mechanics breakthrough or gimmick. That's probably because their primary product is not mechanics but a specialized conditioning method that employs overload/overspeed training to increase bat speed. An important part of their method is immediate feedback using a bat speed meter/computer that gives a bat speed reading for each swing. Bat speed computers are what they sell, along with their training concepts. They are very convincing, and their discussion board can be fascinating, but some days you'll need your scientist hat.

I also like Hitting for Excellence, which is run by the former major league hitting coach for the Oakland A's, Dave Hudgens. Hudgens is still a hitting instructor in the Oakland organization. His primary product is a series of instructional videos and manuals on hitting and conditioning (I guess coaches don't get paid as much as players do). Hudgens also takes a moderate approach to hitting mechanics (combination of weight shift and rotational, short soft stride) and his system leaves room for individual differences. His discussion board is very active and interesting but not quite as technical as Setpro. Jack Mankin's Bat speed site is more contentious. He believes in pure rotational hitting methods, and makes a point of challenging traditional theories. Mankin makes some interesting points and seems open to hearing other peoples' viewpoints, although his approach generates sparks from time to time. His discussion board has some interesting exchanges. He also sells hitting videos.

The best known pitching site (and one of the more controversial sites) is probably All About Pitching, by Dick Mills. Mills pitched briefly for the Boston Red Sox and his son, Ryan Mills, was the Minnesota Twins number one draft pick in 1998. Mills also sells instructional videos and manuals. He is known for opposing the traditional pitching concept of pushing or driving off the rubber. His opponents accuse him of promoting a "cookie cutter" approach that doesn't allow for individual differences. Mills opposes pushing off the rubber and counter-rotation of the torso during the windup, and he also opposes certain types of heavy upper body weight training for pitchers, although his products also include physical training and conditioning manuals and videos. Regardless of how you feel about Mills' methods, his web site does offer a lot of basic information that is useful as a starting point for learning about and analyzing pitching mechanics. Mills has also been active in campaigning against "high tech" metal bats, as his son Ryan was hit by a line drive and seriously injured while pitching his first game as a freshman at Arizona State University in 1996.

Two sites I like that aren't selling anything are the High School Baseball Web and Infosports Baseball. Infosports focuses on the Little League level, but gets lots of comments from coaches on issues that also affect older age groups such as Teener and Legion programs. The High School Baseball Web is an excellent site for high school aged players, parents and coaches. There is much information there about how to prepare for college baseball and the college recruiting process, showcases and camps, coaching tips, and topics of general interest.

There are hundreds of other baseball Internet sites, some commercial and some noncommercial, that are not as elaborate as those discussed here, and they provide a wealth of baseball information. As with other subjects on the Internet, the user needs to exercise caution and judgement and consider the source of what he reads. With those caveats in mind, however, there's a lot of good baseball information to be found on the Internet.