Outfield throwing arm question...

[Maldonado]

What are the elements that make for a good or great throwing arm for an outfielder. The matter of pure strength does not seem to be a factor in this. Take for instance Johnny Damon. I'd speculate that he's above average strength for a MLB player, however he has a notoriously weak throwing arm. Then there is Ichiro Suzuki, who is considerably smaller in size and not a power hitter, but can make the throw from right field to third base with ease. Is it a matter of flexiblity?

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

What are the elements that make for a good or great throwing arm for an outfielder. The matter of pure strength does not seem to be a factor in this. Take for instance Johnny Damon. I'd speculate that he's above average strength for a MLB player, however he has a notoriously weak throwing arm. Then there is Ichiro Suzuki, who is considerably smaller in size and not a power hitter, but can make the throw from right field to third base with ease. Is it a matter of flexiblity?

An accurate arm that doesn't miss the CUTOFF man (see Vladimir Guerrero)

[trosmok]

Some dangerous guns

Often teams will put their cannon arm in RF to get the guys trying to make third from first on a shot to right. Clemente, Dawson, Frank Robinson, Parker, and Vlad come to mind instantly. Accuracy is really more important than strength, though, so being able to hit third on one bounce is not nearly as important as getting the ball to the cutoff man in a timely fashion. You see weaker arms in LF, and the better centerfielders are usually the guys like Jr. that are speedy, decent arm, and always seem to get a perfect jump on anything hit anywhere in their vicinity.

[Brian McKenna]

i'm sure you can work on arm strength but if that was true there would be many more cannon arms from the outfield - perhaps they get funnelled to pitching early - i don't know but it seems that it is almost a genetic fluke to have a gun like jessie barfield - watch the new guy in atlanta jeff francoeur - exciting stuff last season

[Mattingly]

What are the elements that make for a good or great throwing arm for an outfielder. The matter of pure strength does not seem to be a factor in this. Take for instance Johnny Damon. I'd speculate that he's above average strength for a MLB player, however he has a notoriously weak throwing arm. Then there is Ichiro Suzuki, who is considerably smaller in size and not a power hitter, but can make the throw from right field to third base with ease. Is it a matter of flexiblity?

I think it's more a matter of being able to leverage one's muscles when you throw a ball than anything else. Sluggers like Hideki Matsui, Mike Piazza and Jason Giambi all have weak throwing arms from their respective positions, so it's not about brute strength. Could be practice, and possibly exercising towards that end of getting the ball to travel far and quickly.

As to arm strength itself, it can be overrated at times. I wouldn't say it's the ultimate decider on whether a fielder is any good, though it's certainly a factor in RF. Still, fielders have to work within their physical limits and decide if that dramatic diving catch is worth it in getting the 3rd out, or if it will merely allow a guy to score from 1B if the ball gets past the fielder and there's nobody near him to help out.

Before you can even throw a ball, you have to get to it, so good wheels, reading the ball well and where it's likely to land, keep it near you while it's in flight and makes its descent, are all things I'd say that are equally important. Also mentioned, hitting the cutoff man quickly and accurately are things which are highly important, since not everyone has a monstrously powerful arm.

If a fielder doesn't have a chance getting the 2B runner advancing to 3B, then if he throws to 2B, the 1B runner will be held there. In that scenario, if you threw to 3B, then 1B runner would likely advance, creating 2 RISP, rather than setting up a DP.

[Lindseynelson]

Dewey Evans and Rocky Colavito had the strongest arms I've ever seen and were heads up as well. Arm strength isn't always the criteria , if I'm not mistaken Mickey Rivers led the AL in assists one year with the Yankees and he had average arm strength at best. Quick just got the ball accurately to the right spot.

[west coast orange and black]

even in willie mcgee's last seasons he had a rifle arm.
he said that the triceps was the key muscle of the arm to develop for outfield throwing.
and other than that, good mechanics.

[Mattingly]

even in willie mcgee's last seasons he had a rifle arm.
he said that the triceps was the key muscle of the arm to develop for outfield throwing.
and other than that, good mechanics.

I've never thought of the triceps as being the muscle. Primarily because I hadn't had the foggiest which muscle group was primarily involved with throwing the ball.

Anyway, what explains why bigger sluggers (Damon, Giambi, etc) often have puny throwing arms?

[west coast orange and black]

the triceps represents about two-thirds of the mass of the arm's muscle, two-three. but lotsa guys interested in show concentrate on the rounded biceps than the elongated triceps just because the biceps is more noticeable from the front and when flexing.

why big-sized sluggers often have puny throwing arms is a good question.
i'm guessing that it comes down to mechanics.

[VTSoxFan]

Well, if you think about the mechanic of throwing, the extensor would be more important than the flexor, since the act of throwing is a violent extension of the arm. The triceps, and (naturally) the back muscles and the complicated group of muscles that make up the rotator cuff.

As for why a guy can hit the cover off the ball and yet can barely hit the cutoff man.... *shrug* It's a mystery. But I think even I can throw a ball farther than Johnny Damon.

[Mattingly]

the triceps represents about two-thirds of the mass of the arm's muscle, two-three. but lotsa guys interested in show concentrate on the rounded biceps than the elongated triceps just because the biceps is more noticeable from the front and when flexing.

why big-sized sluggers often have puny throwing arms is a good question.
i'm guessing that it comes down to mechanics.

Some of the bigger guys I remember from the '70s or so were Dave Parker and Willie Stargell. I don't know how strong each's arm was, but Willie's teammate, Roberto Clemente, was listed as 5'11" 175 lbs and had a bullet arm, one of the strongest ever.

Watching Ichiro at Yankee Stadium, he makes even the difficult plays look easy. Must be very loose with warming up or something.

I'm familiar with the the triceps muscle itself, since I've worked out in gymns, have done reverse curls and such, but never focused upon how this related to a stronger throwing arm, which may not even be weight lifting-related.

As to "show", if you look at the top bodybuilders, every one of them has impressive tricep muscles. A bigger tricep will do far more to impress the seasoned masses than a large bicep but no tricep. You may as well show up at a competition with bird legs and a beer gut if you're not going to have popping triceps.

[west coast orange and black]

re triceps and throwing arm: all pitchers throw long toss between starts and during pre-game warm-up. they gotta stretch out that long muscle.

(the best long-tosser on the giants, of late: jim brower.
the best i have ever seen: roger clemens. he went nearly foul pole to foul pole with the ball onl;y slightly going higher than what most guys can do at 200'. and that's without benefit of a crowhop.)

re impressive biceps v triceps: yer right. i was just talking about what street guys are looking to improve, not those who are serious about the sport.

[Mattingly]

So foul pole to foul pole is about 400-500' or so? I hadn't realized that guys threw the ball that long. Roger's workout technique was once profiled on YES, but it was throwing some football with Andy Pettitte, then some "marine" type of workout involving an obstacle course or something, but not throwing a baseball diagonally across a baseball field.

As to iron pumpers in the gym, they should learn their history. Arnold Schwarzenegger went into Guinness as the "perfect" body during his "Pumping Iron" days, mostly because of his totally symetrical body, from top to bottom and from left to right. He also had a 57" chest and a 29" waist, which is just shy of a 2:1 ratio. Not saying to duplicate it, but using reason in which areas to work (or not overwork) should help.

[west coast orange and black]

he was throwing from close to the pole, so he was heaving the ball bout 425-450' when i saw him. (!!)

[csh19792001]

he was throwing from close to the pole, so he was heaving the ball bout 425-450' when i saw him. (!!)

That sheer distance is ridiculous, but I don't really doubt it, considering it was Clemens. Where were you when you saw this?

I saw Vlad throw a ball from the 3rd base foul ground over (the vacinity of) the 314 marker on the right field wall during warmups at Yankee Stadium. How far would that be?

Which begs the question- what's the official world record for longest distance thrown (for a baseball)? Does the record even exist?