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Power hitter is a term used in
Power hitter is a term used in baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
for a skilled player that has a higher than average ability in terms of his batting Batting may refer to:
*Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs
*Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...
, featuring a combination of dexterity and personal strength that likely leads to a high number of home-runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
as well as doubles
Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including;
* Beach volleyball
* Doubles badminton
* Doubles curling
* Footvolley
* Doubles pickleball
* Doubles squash
* Doubles table tennis
* Doubles te ...
and triples. In baseball, a power hitter typically bats fourth or "Cleanup" in a Major League lineup, which consists of 9 hitters in a rotating order.
In terms of detailed analysis, looking at a player's ability as a power hitter often involves using statistics
Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...
such as someone's 'slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
' (a function that's calculated by evaluating someone's number of moments at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
in relation to the nature of their hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...
and strikes). ' Isolated Power' (ISO), a measure showing the number of extra bases earned per time at bat that's calculated by subtracting someone's batting average from his slugging percentage, is another statistic used.
The concept generally is analogous to that of a power pitcher, a player who relies on the velocity of his pitches (perhaps at the expense of accuracy) and a high record of strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is den ...
associated with them (statistics such as strikeouts per nine innings pitched are common measures).
Famous power hitters in baseball history
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Gian ...
, who set the record for the most home runs in a season in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
history, is often cited as a power hitter. His career was later bogged down by allegations regarding performance enhancing drugs
Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...
. However, he managed a total of 762 home runs while also earning a comparatively high ISO compared to his rivals, with the publication ''Business Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...
'' labeling him #3 in a list of the greatest power hitters of all time.
Prior to Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Gian ...
breaking the single season home run record in 2001, Sammy Sosa
Samuel Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Chicago Cubs. After playing for the Texas Rangers and C ...
and Mark McGwire closely competed for the record in 1998 with Sosa finishing at a respective 66 home runs and McGwire with a respective 70 home runs to secure the title.
Other baseball figures so cited include the famous hitters Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...
, and Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...
. Popular newspaper writer Victor O. Jones wrote about Williams in particular, "Ted is lucky to come along in a baseball age that worships on the shrine of power, pure, unadulterated power."
See also
* List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders * List of Major League Baseball career slugging percentage leaders * Power pitcher *Triple Crown (baseball)
In baseball, a player earns a Triple Crown when he leads a league in three specific Baseball statistics, statistical categories in the same season. The term "Triple Crown" generally refers to the batter (baseball), batting achievement of leading a ...
References
{{Baseball positions Baseball strategy Baseball terminology