A hitter comes to bat and stands on either the right side or the left side of home plate, depending on whether he is a right-handed or left-handed hitter. He stands within a chalk-drawn area referred to as the batter’s box. His feet remain in this box when he swings or passes on pitches thrown over the plate.
Can you step on home plate while batting? No, you cannot, because the batter must keep both feet inside the batter’s box at all times. Rule 6.02 in the major league baseball rulebook specifies that if the batter steps outside the box when swinging at the pitched baseball, he will be called out.
This is the case whether the ball hit was a fair ball or foul ball. Even if the batter gets a base hit by stepping onto home plate, he is out and any runners on base must return to their starting base.
How Big Is The Batter’s Box?
The dimension of the batter’s box is drawn using chalk; the batter’s box is drawn on each side of home plate as seen below.
A batter that steps on home plate in an attempt to hit the ball is called out. The dimensions of the batter’s box are four feet wide and 6 feet long. As the picture shows, the batter’s boxes are centered lengthwise next to home plate. The inside line of the batter’s box is drawn 6 inches away from the nearest edge of home plate.
The only time the batter walks outside the box in an at-bat is when he gets a hit. After a hit, he drops the bat and steps out of the batter’s box. So, after the batter makes a hit, he is allowed to step on home plate on his way to first base. He cannot touch the plate before or during his swing, only after he makes a hit.
The dimensions of the batter’s box in Little League is 3 feet wide by 6 feet in length; the Little League batter’s box is on foot narrower than the batter’s box used in major league baseball. Little League players are smaller, and so do not need all the room that a grown ballplayer uses.
Can Batters Stand Any Way They Want To In The Batter’s Box?
Batters can assume any stance they want to when they are at the plate. A batting stance is an individual choice. What is important for hitting is the batter’s load and his swing. A batting stance reflects the batter’s area of comfort; he should be comfortable and relaxed in his stance.
However, if a batter is having difficulty making contact with the ball, or he strikes out a lot, the team’s hitting coach will advise him to adjust his batting stance. Hitting coaches are usually retired pro ball players themselves and know from experience the right way to stand in the batter’ box.
A good batting stance is one where the hitter can contact both inside and outside pitches. Let us say a pitcher throws a fastball. The ball takes about 450 milliseconds from when the pitcher releases the ball until the ball reaches the plate. The batter takes about 150 milliseconds (a little over one-tenth of a second), for the batter to swing through with his bat.
The stance is just a starting point in the swing. The process does not need to become too technical. The stance will affect the swing, but there are hundreds of different stances that will work.
A hitter has about 1 hundredth of a second to decide whether or not to swing at the ball. The whole process from pitch release to a full swing comes to about half a second. This is why a stance that gives the hitter complete coverage of the play through his load and swing is so important.
How Many Steps Are There In Swinging A Bat?
Professional players and other experts have broken down the baseball swing into these phases.
Load
Batters store energy just before the swing of the bat across the plate when he uses the proper load.
Hitting coaches recommend the hitter lifts his front heel and turns in his front knee slightly. By doing this, he transfers weight to the side of his body that will move during the swing. This is referred to as the “coil.”
Most of the power in a swing comes from the ground and works its way up through the legs and finally to the upper body that controls the swing. The weight in the coil is transferred to the hitter’s back foot and up to the calf and thigh. Most of the power in a swing comes from the legs.
Launch
The launch occurs just before a hitter swings the bat. The launch “uncoils” all the energy and power stored up in the legs and side of the body. In this phase of the swing, the hitter decides whether to swing or not to swing.
The hitter begins the swing by way of the launch. His hands go to the back of this head. He grips the knob of the bat with his bottom hand. Muscle memory takes him through the launch; a good hitter is not conscious of his movement because this step has been stored in his memory by way of the central nervous system.
Swing
The swing begins when the front foot drops and the weight of the body is transferred to the front leg. The front heel drops and the batter begins his rotational movement towards the baseball.
The arm closest to the pitcher has flex in it; the arm should be able to recoil and release the power stored in this arm when the batter swings through.
The batter swings through and contact is made with the ball when the bat is right in line with the front foot.
Extension
The batter wants to hit the baseball with as much power as he can muster. The hitter whips the bat around his body and the bat finishes the rotation high up, the arms above the shoulders.
What Is Muscle Memory?
Players who start the game at a young age have an advantage. They learn how to swing the bat in a way that results in getting hits. As they learn, their bodies, by way of the central nervous system, develop muscle memory. By the time they reach the minor leagues, their swing is performed without conscious effort; their bodies know to take power from the ground up, through their calves, legs, waist, and the muscles of the abdomen, up to the shoulders, arms, and wrists.
However, most players have to unlearn bad swinging habits they developed when in little league and high school baseball. Hitters take extensive batting practice once they reach the minor leagues, and learn new, more effective swings that their bodies will process and store in muscle memory.
Which Batting Stance Is The Most Effective In The Batter’s Box?
The batting stance is an individual choice, as long as the batter has access to the entirety of home plate.
There have been many unique and unusual player batting stances throughout baseball’s history. Some batting stances are so strange that it does not seem likely that the batter can swing the bat properly, and yet some of these strange stances work well for hitters.
Julio Franco, New York Mets
Julio Franco had an awkward stance at the plate. Franco held his bat high above his head, the fat end of the bat pointing to the outfield. His arms are raised high and a little behind his head.
Yet, Franco’s stance worked well for him; he won 5 Silver Slugger Awards while with the Mets.
Jeff Bagwell, Houston Astros
Normal swinging mechanics tell us that the body moves forward towards the pitch as the batter swings. Jeff Bagwell does the exact opposite. As the pitcher releases the throw, Bagwell steps back into himself.
Bagwell’s stance at the plate is also unconventional. His feet are as wide apart as he finds physically possible. Bagwell’s entire approach is counterintuitive, yet he racked up an incredible 449 home runs in his pro career, leading the league several times in runs batted in by the end of the season.
Craig Counsell, Arizona, Milwaukee
Counsell played for 16 years in the major leagues for four different teams. In that time, Counsell tallied up over 1200 hits and a .255 career average. This is hosting spectacular, but the stat shows that Counsell was at least a reliable hitter.
His stance was one of the strangest in baseball. He raised his bat over his head and behind him as high as he could stretch his arms. He stood almost on the tips of his toes, and his body stretched as far as it could go.
His bat was so high above his head that it was joked about; other players said the bat was so high that it would hit an airplane one day.
Gary Sheffield, (8 Teams)
If Counsell was reliable, Sheffield stood out in both his statistics and his odd batting stance. Sheffield, Although the knob of the bat stayed to the left of his head, Sheffield moved the bat head back and forth in front of his face as part of his stance. The constant movement of the bat likely distracted pitchers, but Sheffield was fun to watch. Once he went into his load and swing, the bat suddenly stopped moving. Sheffield finished his career with an admirable total of 509 home runs and a .292 career batting average.
