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Banestar66 OP t1_jcq40ti wrote

Reply to comment by hippychemist in Olivia Pichardo Becomes First Woman to Play in a Division 1 College Baseball Game by Banestar66

She only pinch hit for one plate appearance and it was a ground out to first base. Hard to take much positive or negative from it yet.

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r0botdevil t1_jcqfd1a wrote

The fact that she even put bat to ball against a D-1 pitcher is something, though. I'm not sure I could do that.

I'm hoping she gets at least a few more at-bats. It'll be interesting to see what she can do in the future.

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Banestar66 OP t1_jcqm47b wrote

I’m at the game today. I’ll let everyone know if she gets in the game what I see from her. So far I’ve just seen her warm up with the team.

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Banestar66 OP t1_jcr2e77 wrote

Disappointingly did not get to see her play despite Brown being up 11-3. Got to see her warm up though and her friends in the stands were certainly cheering for her and trying to get the manager to put her in.

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TheBeautifulChaos t1_jcrusfk wrote

So she was benched the entire game?

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lawfulkitten1 t1_jcsrgss wrote

it's baseball, it's normal for teams to only make a couple of subs because you can't put players back into the game after they leave. even MLB teams will carry players who only play once every few games.

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TheBeautifulChaos t1_jctx0ed wrote

Yea I understand how sports work. My question was if she was benched the entire game or not

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Deadfishfarm t1_jcrwil5 wrote

The coach plays the best players. If a woman can get up to the level of the top 9 players, they'll deserve playing time

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Pincindleton t1_jcsd3au wrote

Not at all true and you know it lmao, don't act like subbing in players isn't a thing in every sport, especially for developing players in garbage time. Just say what you really mean dude.

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handsomehares t1_jcu7jnd wrote

Baseball doesn’t sub as many people in, as a rule.

Imagine they had subbed her in when up so much, would it then be viewed as a stunt because she’d have no real impact on the game?

Equity only works in some situations, she’s playing for equality and equality looks like riding the bench for a lot of the players. Good enough to sit on the bench but maybe not good enough for this game right here right now in this moment.

Even if it is virtue signaling … sometimes that’s necessary just to get the narrative moving.

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Pincindleton t1_jcv043o wrote

>Imagine they had subbed her in when up so much, would it then be viewed as a stunt because she’d have no real impact on the game?

I mean yeah, that's kinda the point. That's when a lot of subs happen, and it's generally viewed as a way to develop younger talent. It's really not that much different from any other freshman bench riders on the team.

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handsomehares t1_jcv1mo3 wrote

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m saying that the same story could be spun from both directions if that’s how people want to spin it.

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wangyuanji58 t1_jcsdren wrote

You don't sub players in in tennis.

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Pincindleton t1_jcsfdz5 wrote

Yeah I'm sure that will be their response lol. BuT wAiT ThEy DonT SuB iN PlaYeRs iN SCotTiSh FlaG waTeR RUgbY sO yOU'rE wrOnG ActUaLly.

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nox_nox t1_jcri8s5 wrote

Women's reaction time in softball is faster (less overall time) than men's professional baseball due to the shorter distance from mound to plate.

"ESPN's Sport Science broke down the speed of both games, pointing out that a 70 mph softball pitch -- from its shorter distance -- reaches home plate faster than a 100 mph baseball pitch. That means a softball player has less than half the time (.025 seconds) to decide to swing compared to a baseball player (.055 seconds). Now imagine trying to decipher whether or not that pitch headed your way is in the strike zone or not."

Source: https://fanbuzz.com/college-sports/college-baseball/softball-vs-baseball/amp/

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bossmt_2 t1_jcrx2me wrote

The issue with this is that 70 MPH softball pitches are rare, it's much more common to face pitches in the mid 60s. Average D1 is around 64 MPH or 93.87 Feet per second meaning from a mound which from 43 feet away means you have .458 seconds until it crosses the plate. vs baseball and a 91 MPH fastball on a 60.5 foot mound you have .453 seconds until it crosses the plate. Part of the assumption is on release point etc. But time until impact is basically the same. Which is the more common issue.

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tjthebest t1_jcrknoy wrote

I would assume if she is a college baseball player that she hasn't really played softball though. So I don't really think this applies.

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DogsbeDogs t1_jcrmuv7 wrote

The above also doesn't discuss the size of the ball. Even if the reaction time needs to be quicker, the movement based on the reaction doesn't need to be as accurate. I think the .03 difference would be offset by the size of the ball.

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nox_nox t1_jcrry84 wrote

Professor baseball players have been struck out by women's softball pitchers.

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DogsbeDogs t1_jcrsel3 wrote

Okay? Baseball players get struck out playing baseball too. Your comment doesn't change anything I said about the ball size not being accounted for.

Also, I bet softball players would be struck out by baseball pitchers. So again, your comment doesn't really address anything....

I was just pointing out that "sports science" usually does a shifty job at actual science and constantly doesn't account for important factors.

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handsomehares t1_jcu807w wrote

The two sports are comparable by the eye test but otherwise the different dynamics of the ball make it wildly different.

Pro baseball players would struggle more against a softball pitch because they don’t train for that. Same the other way around. Doing something you’re not used to inherently means you’re not going to be as good as something you train for. It doesn’t necessarily correlate with difficulty or skill levels.

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bossmt_2 t1_jcrvyc1 wrote

Odds are women softball players would be struck out by professional baseball players. Both are hard in different ways. Both hitters rely heavily on release points and timing. Baseball hitters don't have the timing to hit softball, and vice versa. Give both of them time and they'd be able to figure each other out and adapt their swings and timing.

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hippychemist t1_jcs584a wrote

I'm basically 100% you couldn't do that.

I also couldn't do that, and I'm naturally athletic and hit airborn rocks with sticks pretty effortlessly. Still, I have no doubt that I couldn't hit a 90mph slider while under more pressure than I've ever experienced in my life by a long shot.

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LikesTheTunaHere t1_jct88lj wrote

No but I bet you could eat a slider while doing 90mph down the highway, so you do have that going for you :D

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Satanich t1_jcqsoz8 wrote

"you are not sure you could do that?"

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EverythingGoodWas t1_jcrrgn8 wrote

For all you know that comment was made by Barry Bonds. For what it’s worth I am 100% sure I could not put a baseball in play in D1 ball.

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Ryaninthesky t1_jcqpkpx wrote

I was impressed she got anything on it. First at bats make you nervous enough, let alone with media covering.

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Lubadbitches t1_jcrqt5k wrote

Worst outcomes for an at bat are as follows:

  1. Strike out looking
  2. Strike out swinging
  3. Hit a little dinker that the C or P picks up and throws you out 4. Ground out to 1st/2nd

So hell yea it’s a W for her. Infield pop ups can go in there somewhere too.

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EverythingGoodWas t1_jcrrkkw wrote

What about hitting into a double play?

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Lubadbitches t1_jcsbhtv wrote

Still a groundout. Just adding more variables. But yes still an emotional toll. Good thing it didn’t happen

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hippychemist t1_jcq6vtm wrote

Respectable enough. Glad it wasn't an intentional walk or some other "message". They let her play, and she played. I'm curious to see how it plays out.

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Gobaxnova t1_jcsup97 wrote

As a non baseball fan this is quite funny to read. It’s like that family guy cricket sketch

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