A Traditional World Series Broadcast Booth: John Smoltz Versus Launch Angles

Many people tune into the World Series and it’s the first time they’ve watched baseball all year. For those unaware, the discussion about the proper way to hit has intensified in recent years, with a huge debate over the importance of “launch angle” when hitting a baseball. Just listen to a few innings of FOX broadcaster John Smoltz, a first-ballot Hall of Fame pitcher—and to some extent the great play-by-play man Joe Buck—and you’ll sense the broadcast booth is very much against this newly-popularized uppercut-swing approach.

 

A quick search of “John Smoltz launch angle” on Twitter, and you can find plenty of people unhappy after just one game of the World Series. A lot of it is condescending, with people that might not have ever played baseball thinking they know more about the game than a Hall of Famer (granted, Smoltz was a pitcher).

 

Smoltz himself probably thinks he would dominate in today’s game—when players are going for more home runs than ever—even more than he did during his great career, which is probably part of why people are quick to criticize his attitude toward uppercut swings.

 

A vocal group of people—it’s difficult to tell if it’s a large number based on Twitter—basically want Smoltz out of the broadcast booth because they don’t like his takes on hitting. But I think his attitude is refreshing in a time where the launch-angle proponents loudly put down the traditional side. Smoltz fighting back by letting his opinion be known is a good counter-balance for the shift that’s occurring.

 

Admittedly, I agree with Smoltz. Getting under the ball and hitting a bomb is obviously fine, but to teach uppercut swings where the bat is in the zone for a lesser amount of time undoubtedly leads to fewer balls being put in play. And it’s 100% not something that should be taught to most kids. Major leaguers that have developed the hand-eye coordination over the years can shift their swing to more of an uppercut and make a lot of money hitting a few dozen homers per season, but many kids are going to struggle with it.

 

I would just like to know why there is a vocal group of people against launch angle non-believers, and there aren’t many people out there on the opposite side. It almost feels like the critics of Smoltz and the traditional swing either read about launch angle or heard an MLB player that’s had success with it talk about it, and now they feel like they’re experts and should make their voices heard on the matter.

 

So when it comes to Smoltz, who does a fine job with Joe Buck in the booth in my opinion, versus some people on Twitter, it’s easy to take the side of the Braves great.

 

Smoltz isn’t alone, as many people that have played the game and been around the game for a long time are also against the emphasis on launch angle. Among them are Cubs manager Joe Maddon and Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt (who had 548 home runs in his career and strongly emphasizes the importance of swinging down on the baseball and grinding out at-bats to make contact).

 

It’s come to traditional versus analytics. The analytics and launch angles dominate social media, but a lot of us are happy it’s a traditional mindset calling the World Series.