Baseball art by Bill Anderson of Sunset
Beach's Anderson Art Gallery Shows Pitcher and Ball
Sunset Beach, Calif.--Poetry in
motion could easily describe the what crowds see when watching baseball.
In the artist's rendering pictured, artist Bill Anderson of Anderson Art
Gallery in Sunset Beach portrays the pitcher's torso perpendicular to
his leg that mounts the pitcher's plate for the throw. In focus at
viewer's and pitcher's eye level is the ball, no doubt zooming toward
you at a high rate of speed.
Bill Anderson's baseball art
springs from a passion for the sport. He once played semi-pro ball and
was a pitcher, in fact. Today Anderson mostly creates fine art and sells
the works of several artists, including his own, in his Anderson Art
Gallery in Sunset Beach. Stop by to look at this exciting
collection of baseball art originals.
While many claim to have the
fastest pitch on record, Nolan Ryan was officially clocked by the
Guinness Book of World Records at 100.9 miles per hour in a game played
on August 20, 1974. According to Dick Mills "All About Pitching", Nolan
Ryan's velocity was produced before the pitching arm even moved. By
building maximum forward momentum using a big step back and by moving
explosively away from the pitching rubber using a hard push, he shifts
the mass of his body and creates maximum kinetic energy which produces a
long stride and thereby puts as many muscles of his body on stretch as
possible. This allows his body to act just like a huge rubber band that
whips the arm through like a jet powered sling shot. His front and back
hip are only slightly rotated and the front shoulder is not rotated at
all. The pitcher's shoulders are lined up between home and second base
while his throwing arm is up, extended back and in a cocked position.
Using an explosive lunge to drive the body away from the rubber rather
than a glide or a stride toward the plate, once the pitcher's front foot
lands, he cannot develop any more velocity. All he can do after landing
is transfer that energy from his legs to hip and trunk rotation and then
finally this stored elastic energy is what whips his arm through at high
speed. In Nolan Ryan's case, for example, his stride length was
over 100% of his body height. Most coaches recommend that pitchers only
stride from 80-90%. Striding too short reduces elastic energy production
which is the driving force for building arm speed. Short strides not
only reduce velocity but force the pitcher to try to get more on the
ball using his arm. If pitchers don't know how to use their lower body
to maximize their stride length they will never throw with above average
velocity.
Nolan Ryan, dragged his back foot across the mound surface 17" away from
the rubber...like many power pitchers. This provides more stability and
better transfer of energy. And of course this is discouraged by many
coaches because they do not understand mechanics and how the body
produces force.
Anderson Art Gallery, 16812 Pacific Coast Highway,
Sunset Beach, CA. 90742. (562) 592-4393. Hours: Fridays and Saturdays 1
to 10 p.m., Sundays 1 to 8 p.m. or by appointment.
Anderson Art Gallery paintings and art by Bill
Anderson that are represented in his gallery include:
Mothers Bar
Sunset
Aquatic Park
Taco Surf |
