Have you ever wondered how baseball players hit 400-foot homeruns? It takes years and years to perfect a baseball swing to be able to do this. Swinging a bat and hitting a baseball is much harder than most people think. The pros make it look so simple because they have to perfect many mechanics just to hit a ball hard in the right spot on the club. “Hitting is the hardest thing to do in sports.” this comes from Ted Williams, one of the greatest hitters of all time. Hitting a baseball requires greater mechanical precision than other sports (Williams). When baseball began, scores were very low because no one knew how important swing mechanics were. This time period was known as the Dead Ball Era. The players rushed onto the field and threw themselves as hard as they could. These actions lead to very low scoring games and are based only on the speed of the players. Babe Ruth was the first player to be known as a power hitter. He relied on power and set the record for most home runs in a year, which was 29 in 1919. That's nothing compared to today. Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles hit 53 home runs last season. As time went on, people began to realize that more emphasis should be placed on swing mechanics to make the game more exciting (Epstein). One of the most important batting philosophies today is that of the linear stroke. This philosophy was created around the end of the 1970s. This method was created by one of the greatest hitters of all time, Ted Williams. The linear shot relies on the player's hips bringing their hands to the ball. Baseball hitters who use this method usually have high averages and do not try to pinch the ball. The whole point of t... middle of paper... Epstein, Mike. “Pre 1920: The Linear Stroke Technique.” www. mikeepsteinhitting.com. Np, nd Web.Gwynn, Tony. The art of hitting. 1st ed. New York: GT Publishing Corporation, 1998. 1-144. Print.Johnson , Tedd. “Linear vs. Rotational Striking.” www.trainbaseball.com. Np, nd Web. .Jones, Robin. Personal interview. November 11, 2013.nmjLau, Charlie. The art of hitting .300. 1st ed. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. 1-200. Print.O'Leary, Chris. “Swing Hitting 101.” www.chrisoleary.com. Np, nd Web. 13 February 2014. Williams, Ted. The science of hitting. 1st ed. New York: Touchstone, 2013. 1-66. Press.