The statistic that stand out among the really old players is the hit-by-pitch category. Stats just don't lie: guys with wacky stances get hit. Two guys from the 1800s, Hughie Jennings and Tommy Tucker, are number 1 and number 3, respectively, on the all-time HBP list and many of the top 100 on the all-time list played at or around the turn of the twentieth century. One of them is named Kid Elberfeld. I mean, c'mon, Kid Elberfeld? He probably got plunked all the time because he dressed like Charlie Chaplin and threw pies at the pitcher. Throw in the newness of the game and the presumable lack of formal training and coaching and I have to believe everyone in the league was a Kid Elberfeld. Technology, scouting, and early training have led to a watered-down world of stance. Kid Elberfeld was probably raised by wolves and made the majors because a scout saw him swing a mallet at a carnival and figured he'd be able to hit the ball a long way. Raw and undisciplined, Kid Elberfeld probably tried to eat the ball the first time someone threw it his way. He wasn't a caveman, but he probably wasn't far off compared to the polished professional children of today's game who learn how to swing like J. D. Drew and throw like Jeter. I'm just saying.
Batting Stance Guy - A Love Letter to Baseball By Gar Ryness, Caleb Dewart · 2010
Batting Stance Guy never expected he would become a YouTube celebrity, racking up more than two million views, landing profiles in The New York Times and USA Today, and even scoring an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. But when a friend and neighbor started capturing this man’s unusual talents with a video camera, that’s what happened. With uncanny precision, Batting Stance Guy can mimic any baseball player he’s ever seen, and the results will take you back—to the game last night, or last year, or in 1980, or anywhere in-between.
Batting Stance Guy never expected he would become a YouTube celebrity, racking up more than two million views, landing profiles in The New York Times and USA Today, and even scoring an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. But when a friend and neighbor started capturing this man’s unusual talents with a video camera, that’s what happened. With uncanny precision, Batting Stance Guy can mimic any baseball player he’s ever seen, and the results will take you back—to the game last night, or last year, or in 1980, or anywhere in-between.
