Speed of Major Leaguers vs. distance runners

some are fast, some arent

you're probably faster than ruben sierra but slower than carlos beltran

If they're bulked up, then they're built like sprinters or running backs. Who obviously can run fast.

First, a good distance runner would have to be able to hit a major league pitch.

Second, if one made contact let's assume (as Bob Kennedy says and I believe to be correct) that the world class 5000m runner can run 100m in 13 seconds (that is the speed one needs to be able to run 10mm all out to be "world class" as a distance runner). The distance from home to first is 30 yards (27.5m). The runner should be able to cover that distance in 3.6 sec (this does not take into account that you are probably starting from an optimal start position).

Someone like Deion Sanders once went from home to first in something like 3.2 seconds.

0.4 seconds is a lot.

I would say there are far fewer position players (catchers not included) that a distance runner would be able to outrun over 30 yards than people here would think. Baseball is a game for people with explosiveness and power.

captain morgan spiced rum wrote:

some are fast, some arent

you're probably faster than ruben sierra but slower than carlos beltran

Actually Sierra is pretty quick.

Bo Jackson was bulked up, a world class football player and world class sprinter. As a baseball player he was the strongest and fastest player in baseball. The only thing he couldn't do was play the game, and he was too much of a prima donna to spend any time developing his talent. He was a pitiful ballplayer. So fast he could beat out infield grounders routinely, then get picked off first. Such a sorry baserunner that despite his incredible speed, he couldn't steal bases. So strong that he could throw the ball on a line from the outfield to home, which he did routinely missing the cutoff man and allowing base runners to advance. As a right-handed batter, he was an opposite-field hitter who could blast the ball over the right field fence easily when he wasn't striking out, which he did on a third of his at bats.

Bo was a football player who was trying to play baseball because he had enough natural talent to do it. From a purist standpoint, he wasn't a very good ballplayer, but he was fun to watch just from a highlight-reel perspective. He hit tape-measure homers when no one else was, unlike now where just about every homer goes 450 feet, and he could pick it in the outfield. But yeah, his boneheaded plays and strikeouts were maddening.

First, timing the runner to first base also includes having the batter adjust his body to a positio where he can run.

He just swung a bat so after contact his bat is still moving and his body is not in the correct position to run. The best indicator of their relative speed is their meters per second (mps) at four steps out. Compare that to a distance runners mps four steps off the starting line.

We get to see baseball players sprint to first everyday but rarely do we see a distance runner at full speed.

My gut feeling tells me that distance runners would succeed far better at getting to first base vs. ballplayers than one might think.

An awful lot of these power players are really very slow.

But running is only one small part of a ballplayers skills. It doesn't have to be their best skill.

I agree with you. I saw him play a lot, including his first Major League game when he beat out an infield grounder that would have been a routine out for anyone else. The shortstop fielded it, looked to throw to first and didn't even have a play because Bo was almost there. That happened a lot. They learned to charge his grounders and throw fast. There wasn't any way to get him on a high hopper. He was fun to watch, simply because he had so much talent that he could do things no one else could. He could run faster, throw harder and hit farther than anyone.

actually, 3.6 seconds is smokin' fast. IIIIchiro does it that fast occasionally, and he has a more "optimal" starting position out of the batters box than practically anyone else in the game right now.

Bo Jackson was the greatest athlete any of us has every scene ppl!! Ya he was so sucky that he is the only player to make the all star game and pro bowl in the same year. his first love was track he was a dec guy and probably would of won a gold in that too if he went in that direction. You guys need to catch his sports century on ESPN classic....the way guys like Howie Long and George Brett just go on and on about his ablities...he was like 20 or 30 carries away from being eligable for the per carry average record....his yards per carry were more then jim brown for christ sake!!

could he have been a better baseball player if he did it full time all year, of course but i think we should just appreciate what he did as a whole....i think it's sad that kids already don't know who is is.

ALL of us LOST OUT by his hip injury, because we only got a snap shot of his athletic career....he was just a FREAK!

WEll, I was no major leaguer but I was a distance runner and baseball player in high school and college. I know, its a weird combination. I had decent speed in high school, but was more of a two-miler than a miler. Anyway, I was still always the fastest baserunner on any team I was ever on. We used to time how long it took to steal second base and I think I could to it in about 3.3 seconds

Someone like Deion Sanders once went from home to first in something like 3.2 seconds

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"Mickey Mantle, when batting left-handed was timed running from home-plate to first base in 3.1 seconds (the fastest time of any player in history), this is incredible feat."

That doesn't surprise me one bit. Especially when you consider that a reasonable lead will cut the 90ft down to ~80. Getting from home to first on a hit, especially if you're a righty, is surely going to take a lot longer.

World class distance runners can run far, far faster than 13 seconds in the 100. I can run 12 flat, and I'm so far removed from world-class, it ain't even funny.

Agreed. The guy was unbelievable. And that injury was freakish.

Yeah, 13 seconds is awful slow for a "world class" distance runner. If memory serves me correctly I read somewhere that Geb had something like 11.8/48/8 speed in him (can anyone confirm this?). Also, you must take into account that adrenaline would help improve times in those situations (If you don't believe me, go hit a baseball and try and beat out the play at first).

i was the fastest kid up through legion ball on my team or in the league and i ran cross country and track. it all depends on the genes i guess

I agree that Bo was a freak, awesome to watch doing any sport. Baserunning in baseball has a lot to do with timing as well as studying pitchers and catchers. Ricky Henderson is the greatest baserunner of all time and probably not as "fast" as Bo or D. Sanders, or a lot of players for that matter. Noone will ever touch his single season base stealing record, 120 I believe, or his career record. If you think about it, Henderson should be talked about as one of the top players in baseball history, in my opinion. He had an awesome batting average, and even better on-base percentage. Then match that up with his base running/stealing abilities and he was just as lethal of a weapon as any home run hitter. He is the all-time record holder for the stat that wins games, runs, and I think that is majorly overlooked.

I think top distance runners could make it to first faster than some major league players, but knowing the game and stealing bases is a whole other issue.

When I was in High School, Mike Boit was a student coach at our school. He told a group of us that he could run 100 yards in 9.8 seconds.