Important analysis of the "softball" picture

[Bucky]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100511&content_id=9967722&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb">Kagan knows importance of strong stance
Players break down Supreme Court nominee's plate approach

Without taking sides on the matter, we at MLB.com thought it would be fun to look closely at another stance. A 1993 black-and-white photo of Kagan, from the University of Chicago Law School, was published on the front of Tuesday's Wall Street Journal with the headline, "Court Nominee Comes to the Plate." It shows her standing in the right-hand batter's box choking up on a bat and waiting with a smile for the pitch.

{ snip }

"It actually looks good," Mets catcher Rod Barajas said, holding the newspaper at his locker. "It looks like her weight's distributed evenly. Her hands are up. She's holding the bat the right way. That's something you could work with. That's something I could go out there and feel comfortable getting in the batter's box, looking like that."

Ryan Zimmerman was sitting in front of his locker before batting practice, clearly not prepared to adopt that form. "I don't know. She's got the Barry Bonds choke-up working, maybe that's two strikes on her. I don't know. She doesn't look too aggressive. She doesn't have a very intimidating face working, either. It looks like she's friends with the pitcher or something.

"It's not terrible, though. It's not great, but it's not terrible. It's not looking too aggressive. She's not looking ready to hit. She definitely looks like a Punch-and-Judy hitter, not really a power hitter."

{ snip }

The newspaper was passed down several lockers to that of Ivan Rodriguez, who has seen every kind of stance possible from his squatting position behind home plate. He took a long look at the image in front of him and pronounced it worthy of a true hitter.

"It doesn't look that bad," he said. "You've got two eyes to the pitcher. You've got good balance. All the balance is on the back leg. It doesn't look that bad. Batting stance looks OK -- but I don't know the swing.

"I think the batting stance is perfect, right there. Maybe she brings the bat a little longer. It looks good so far."

What would he tell her if he were squatting behind the plate during that at-bat?

"I don't know, you've got to play the game serious, I can't tell her what's coming," he said. "The only thing I could tell her would be, 'Be ready. Be ready to swing.'"

Mets outfielder Jeff Francoeur dismissed the positive reviews of both starting catchers in that evening's game.

"They're catchers," he said, grinning.

"First of all," he continued, "I'll say that she's choked way too far up on the bat. It looks like the lower hand's kind of too much over, knuckles need alignment. You can tell she's gripping the bat way too hard. She's not going to be able to get it there.

"The stance is not very good. Her feet are kind of open here. That's not going to make for a real good, powerful stance. Smiling at the pitcher is probably not a great idea.

"I do like how the head is turned. Her shoulders are nice. She's balanced. But it's not a very strong stance and you can't smile at the pitcher or you're gonna get hit. You're gonna get hit."

When told that she is a Mets fan, Francoeur shifted his position. "Is she?" he asked. "Well, tell her I like her then. Tell her she's got a good stance."

Nationals closer Matt Capps seems to have as good a read on batting stances today as anyone, winning the Majors' top reliever award for the month of April. He said it is a "good stance" overall, but added: "Even the good hitters are pitchable."

"It looks like she's choking up there and she's locked down, so it looks like she's going to give you an aggressive fight -- which is probably a good thing in the position she's going to be in," Capps said. "But with the bat head going up like that, I'm probably going to try and throw the ball on the inner part of the plate and see if I can't jam her.

"I'm going to go hard in and soft away, and try to mix up the timing a little bit. It looks like with her stance, she's going to have a hard time getting to the ball on the inner half of the plate. Anything breaking away from her, with me being a righty, she'll be a little bit in front of.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100511&content_id=9967722&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[ProdigalJunkMail]

1. I am so happy to read this...

some of it is actually very close to what I thought when I saw the pic. "She might need to raise that right elbow at bit and I'm not sure about that smile...I mean, where is her competitive 'kill' instinct? Other than that, it looks like she knows what she is doing."

Best analysis yet...and it is spot on about what SHOULD be taken from this pic. All the other stuff that people WANT to take from this pic is bullshit and not a matter that should be discussed in relation to her SCOTUS nomination or really at all...

sP

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. My reaction is "Softball photo? Really"

I'm more interested in her opinion of dungeons. At one point she seemed to think they were okay.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

5. i think you miss my point...

the thought that a paper could make a point of her 'preference', rather what they want people to THINK of her preference whether it is true or not, is pretty pitiful. the fact that people can see through the tissue of intent is pleasing and maybe it means that people will focus on the issue of her positions rather than her 'batting' stance...

sP

[zbdent]

2. really, though ... what has her playing softball in college have to do with her

judicial ability?

I would understand a picture of Bush in his cheerleading outfit ... since that's what he did on the sidelines during the Vietnam era, and what he did all through his presidency (no skin in the game, so he could rah-rah-rah the wars) ... but how many major media outlets posted that picture?

(Don't give me MSNBC ... aside from cheerleading Bush, I'm constantly reminded that MSNBC doesn't get the ratings to be considered a "major media" force ...)

[Bucky]

3. It shows that she has outside interests beyond politics. This helps her understand...

the difference between serious arguments and outright silliness. Wouldn't you think it's important for someone to be able to tell what they're reading is actually meant to be taken as silliness?