When Michigan local Stanley Anderson challenged any major league player to take his batting cage challenge, it seems he had a current star player in mind.
After all, a challenge of this difficulty would likely require the uppermost echelon of baseball talent to do the things that the security guard was doing. He was claiming to hit baseballs, fired 70-80 miles per hour out of a pitching machine, at just 20 feet away. This feat, he says, is the equivalent of hitting a 250-mph fastball. Does the math check out?
80 mph = 117.33 fps --> 20 feet / 117.33 = 0.17 seconds of reaction time
250 mph = 366.67 fps --> 60.5 feet / 366.67 = 0.165 seconds of reaction time
In summary, for all you non-math people out there, it's close enough. And not only does Anderson hit the occasional ball pitched under these circumstances; he claims to hit nearly every single one.
But while some current players, including Justin Turner and Mike Fiers, took notice of his challenge, no one took part. Well, no one current took part. But a few years after his talents were written about by a number of media outlets, including ESPN, a former MLB player answered the call.
Spoiler alert: Anderson hit 29 of 30 balls. Ozzie didn't fare so well. You can watch the whole video here.
"I was a contact hitter all my life," Guillen said, baffled by Anderson. "I didn't hit home runs, I was a contact hitter. It doesn't work. When people say, 'Oh, I can do this'... step up."
Guillen isn't the first MLB player who has taken Anderson's challenge. Former All-Star Cliff Floyd also entered the cage, saw the first pitch go by, and promptly stated "Ain't no way you can hit that s---." Still, he had more success than Guillen.
"Any baseball player on this planet," Anderson told Whistle Sports in 2017, "please, step into the cage with me. See if you can do what I do.
"I already know what's going to happen."
According to Fox2 Detroit, Anderson thinks that his talent is not only a cool party trick or viral video. He says he could hit an MLB fastball today, even in his 50s, and says he's "willing to listen to any offers." Will his hometown Detroit Tigers, who were a bottom-10 team in runs per game and OPS, come calling? In 2020, anything is possible.
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