DeuceBaseman

So if I am racing one of my friends, and I tell him that I will beat him, he will then go slower so that my hypothesis is true? You guys are ridiculous. And Earth2Sean faggot needs to stop with all the stupid insults or get banned or something, cuz all he does is post negative stuff about me without even coming up with a decent argument. Its a study that showed results. If I did the same study and it ended up showing that it was faster to run through the bag, then none of you guys would say that its a faulty study. I'm not saying my study was 100% accurate. But it does say something.

How? I accept the fact that my study proved a lot but there could have been some possible errors. But there is no reason for me to believe that every trial I ran was false.

Some did, but a lot of them thought that it would turn out untrue.

It's just a theory of mine that I think is very unique and I am convinced it is true based on my studies. I think this discussion is a lot more civil than the past so it's ok. It's good to have this discussion as long as no one is insulting anyone else. I hope it does work though and it changes the game.

.....which is what, 90% of sliding? If your sliding into first, then avoiding a tag would be 0% of sliding unless its a bad throw because it's a force out. So it is less of an injury risk. And these guys will know that they will be sliding when the get to first, so it wont be a last second decision. Before the season starts this year, I'm gonna test it again with my players and if some get there faster by sliding then I will encourage it for them. But I'm the assistant coach so I'd have to convince the head coach.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but that's just preposterous. Sliding is safer than running? Absolutely not. 75% of my aches and pains from playing the game came from sliding. I'm a feet first slider for the most part. I have never injured myself sliding. Maybe a little burn on my thigh or something if the ground is hard. But I have rolled my ankle numerous times running through the bag at 1st. I don't see people getting injured sliding that often unless they are sliding to avoid a tag.

Everything possible has been mentioned. And yes I am suggesting to slide all the time. I think it is less of an injury risk.

I agree with you. Umps are more likely to call a guy out sliding. In my baseball league this summer, I beat out an infield hit by sliding to first, and the ump said in a really surprised voice "safe?" He couldnt believe that I beat it out. Thats why im gonna give the ump a heads up that my players might slide into 1st so look for that.

How is there nothing to draw from my data? It shows that it's faster to slide into first. Each person got to 1st faster by sliding, over numerous trials! And feet first was faster than head first. The reason I came up with this idea is cuz I was watching baseball games on tv and whenever they showed replays of guys running to first, you can see how big that last step always is. I thought to myself that if they just slid I think they would get there quicker. But I said "no way, i was told not to slide into 1st, and I'm sure that the ground will slow you down." Those I believe are true but I think that there are also cons to running through the bag. So I tested it, and I was right.

It's called a hypothesis. Before each scientific experiment you should have a hypothesis on what you think the results will show. That is what I did, and my hypothesis was correct. It was not based on bias at all.

Maybe if you're measuring 1600 meter times, but when you're talking about fraction of second differences like sliding into first v. running through, your experiment doesn't have much value. I think it does when you have 50 total trials and only 2 times out of those 50 it came up in a different order than feet first, head first, run through. How could I consistently have timer errors where sliding is faster? When did you do this trial and who did you convince to slide into first for you dozens of times? I did this last spring, and I had 10 people each run to first 15 times.

Maybe if you're measuring 1600 meter times, but when you're talking about fraction of second differences like sliding into first v. running through, your experiment doesn't have much value. I think it does when you have 50 total trials and only 2 times out of those 50 it came up in a different order than feet first, head first, run through. How could I consistently have timer errors where sliding is faster?

Sorry i was off, I just looked back at the results. Running through was 4.425 secs, Sliding head first was 4.325 secs, and sliding feet first was 4.2 secs. So it was about .2-.3 secs faster from sliding feet to running. I'm guessing you hand-timed this? Yes, with a normal stop watch. There's def room for error. But I thought that sliding was faster before hand and I wasnt surprised with the results. I think the hand timing by me shouldnt be much of an error.

It will. I'm assuming you disagree because your little league baseball coach told you to "never slide into 1st".

I disagree. I think sliding is safer than running through the bag. I have never got injured from sliding into a bag, especially feet first. But I have gotten injured running through the bag quite a few times and have seen others as well because they land on the bag awkwardly with the side of their ankles, or they hit the side of the bag or step on the 1B foot. If you know how to slide you shouldnt get hurt.

Sorry i was off, I just looked back at the results. Running through was 4.425 secs, Sliding head first was 4.325 secs, and sliding feet first was 4.2 secs. So it was about .2-.3 secs faster from sliding feet to running.

I had 9 of my friends, and me. So 10 of us did it. Some of us had a lot of baseball skills and sliding skills while some have never slid before and I had to teach them how to slide. Each one of us ran to first through the bag 5 times, slid into first feet first 5 times, and slid head first 5 times. Some of us did it in a different order, like some slid head first first, some ran through first, and some slid feet first first. I had them start at home plate and just sprint towards first. I timed them as soon as they started moving and stopped it as soon as they hit the bag. Almost every trial (except for maybe 2 scores) showed that sliding feet first was fastest, followed by head first, then running through. One of my friends timed me as well and I had it in that same order. I averaged all the scores and it was about .5 seconds faster to slide feet than it was to run through. And about .3 seconds faster to slide feet than slide head. I think this showed me a lot, especially since I used many different skill leveled people. I'm going to try it again this year with my HS team.

yes, but it depends on the situation and the hitter.

I thought about it a lot, and I couldn't come up with any reasons why it's a bad idea. 1) Dangerous? No, I think people sprain their ankles a lot more landing on the bag the wrong way. I've sprained my ankle 3 summers in a row hitting the bag at a wrong angle or landing on the 1B's foot. 2) If you run through the bag and the ball gets passed the 1B, you have to take such a wide angle to try and advance to 2nd. If you just slide and pop up, you can be on a direct line to 2nd. 3) If a throw pulls the 1B off the bag, then you're supposed to slide into 1st to avoid a tag. Yet we see it happen a million times where the guy doesn't slide and gets tagged out. If they are sliding the whole way then they don't even need to think about it. I would like to hear some reasons why it's bad.

why don't olympic sprinters slide through the finish tape then? Cuz that would hurt, baseball dirt is a little different than a track so you can actually advance in distance when you slide in dirt, and track runners lean their heads forward so their heads cross, just like baseball players would lead with their feet to touch the bag. Plus like I mentioned it could be mental. Baseball players dont always run through the bag at the same speed, they tend to slow down at the end.

And that is why we need Roberts at the top of the order and not Soriano. We need a guy to take a lot of pitches, and tire the pitcher out, and see how his stuff is on that particular day. Instead of Soriano's swing swing swing approach.

I know a lot about the game of baseball. I was a .500 hitter in HS so I did have the skill but I think my mental makeup of the game was a lot stronger than my physical part, and thats why I'm coaching. I led my team in SB's every year and I was one of the slowest on the team. I also would get 10 guys out a year on backdoor plays when they would hit a single to the OF and I'd be the cut off man and throw to 1st and get them out as they're rounding the base not expecting a throw. But my big coaching belief is sliding into 1st base. When players run to 1st base, a lot of being safe has to do with mental stuff. You see players lunge for the bag, or stutter step before they get there, this slows them down. So when I was in college, (At the horrible U of I), I did a series of tests. I was on the baseball team so I figured my project should be on something with baseball. And I always thought that sliding into 1st was faster than running through the bag. So I decided to test it. I had 10 people. Each with different baseball experience. Some played college ball, some have never played in their life. They each ran 5 trials. Running through the bag, Sliding feet first, and sliding head first. After all the trials it showed up that sliding feet first was fastest by almost half a second, then sliding head first, then running through the bag. This could have a lot to do with people stutter stepping or lunging for first. But I believe that if you sprint towards first with the intention of sliding feet first, you have a better chance of being safe than running through the bag. Plus you never have to think whether to slide or not on a bad throw, and you can pop right up on a wild throw and run to 2nd. AND no more sprained ankles from landing on the bag the wrong way. People thought I was crazy when I told them about this. Until I showed them the test results, and I actually started doing it in games and I beat out a lot of infield singles. You just gotta make sure the ump knows your sliding so that he isnt surprised and call you out just for sliding. Let the discussion begin!

You can say that about anything. Maybe a pitcher tripped and threw a ball and walked you. OOOO you got a walk by luck. Duck snorts or broken bat singles happen a lot. Those are due mostly to luck or whatever you want to call it. But over a season batting average is not influenced by luck. You dont see a guy getting 100 broken bat singles.

Hits are more likely to occur by chance while walks are not? I completely disagree. Walks are WAYYYY more about luck than hits are. You get a hit if your a good hitter end of story. You take a walk if the pitcher happens to throw you balls. that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard. I find it hilarious that this guy is a baseball coach. HOW IN THE HELL DO HITS OCCUR BECAUSE OF LUCK??!!!! ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!!!! I'M DONE WITH THIS [expletive]. YOU GUYS HAVE TO BE THE STUPIDEST PEOPLE IVE EVER COME ACROSS. BATTING AVERAGE IS A VERY IMPORTANT STAT WHEN DETERMINING HOW GOOD A HITTER IS. NO ONE HAS A HIGH BATTING AVERAGE BECAUSE OF LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hits are more likely to occur by chance while walks are not? I completely disagree. Walks are WAYYYY more about luck than hits are. You get a hit if your a good hitter end of story. You take a walk if the pitcher happens to throw you balls. that's the dumbest thing i've ever heard. What a coincidence because what you wrote above that was the dumbest thing i've ever heard.