1984 Mike White pitching

[Hillhouse]

For those bored without softball, if you go to the 45:00 mark you'll get to see Mike White pitching. I'm guessing he was in his early 20's at this point. You can tell it's 1984 by the uniforms, lack of batting helmets, the bats being used, etc. And, on top of the announcers being amateurish, and humorous, the color commentary guy is actually an American who moved to NZ and thinks of himself as a Kiwi, his bias in his commentary is legendary for the games that were on TV down there. It's hard to tell on video how hard these guys are throwing but, my guess would be 80mph range... 46 feet away.

 

[_MIA_]

For those bored without softball, if you go to the 45:00 mark you'll get to see Mike White pitching. I'm guessing he was in his early 20's at this point. You can tell it's 1984 by the uniforms, lack of batting helmets, the bats being used, etc. And, on top of the announcers being amateurish, and humorous, the color commentary guy is actually an American who moved to NZ and thinks of himself as a Kiwi, his bias in his commentary is legendary for the games that were on TV down there. It's hard to tell on video how hard these guys are throwing but, my guess would be 80mph range... 46 feet away.

No chest protector for the NZ catcher?

 

[Hillhouse]

No chest protector for the NZ catcher?

A lot of guys don't wear them. Although more and more do these days as Slapping is more prevalent.

The "CANAM" shortstop, Chad Corchran is WIDELY considered to be the first person to introduce slapping into fastpitch softball, in the late 1970's.

 

[_MIA_]

A lot of guys don't wear them. Although more and more do these days as Slapping is more prevalent.

The "CANAM" shortstop, Chad Corchran is WIDELY considered to be the first person to introduce slapping into fastpitch softball, in the late 1970's.

Good to know. I've watched a bit of men's fastpitch the last few years (I didn't watch much softball at all until my DD starting playing even though my sister was a pretty good HS 1B..bad brother) and I guess either they were wearing them when I watched or wasn't playing close enough attention. Rod Carew would have been a heck of a slapper

 

[Hillhouse]

Good to know. I've watched a bit of men's fastpitch the last few years (I didn't watch much softball at all until my DD starting playing even though my sister was a pretty good HS 1B..bad brother) and I guess either they were wearing them when I watched or wasn't playing close enough attention. Rod Carew would have been a heck of a slapper

Ichiro would've been a great fastpitch player. Of course, he did ok in baseball too and he'd have to give up his millions he made from baseball, so then again maybe not. Where are you located?

 

[MadBandit22]

What’s u

Ichiro would've been a great fastpitch player. Of course, he did ok in baseball too and he'd have to give up his millions he made from baseball, so then again maybe not. Where are you located?

What’s up with all the lefty batters for Can-Am? Left pitcher also I love it!!!

Just in this small sample size I would take the Can-Am pitcher over White. The Can-Am batters were swinging at a lot of bad pitches up by their heads.

The Can-Am SS was a vacuum with a canon for an arm. Lots of speed on both teams.

What was that about a NZ batter being a righty Slapper? Is that even a thing or are the buffoon announcers just consuming too much Fosters Ale?

 

[STRIKE3]

For those bored without softball, if you go to the 45:00 mark you'll get to see Mike White pitching. I'm guessing he was in his early 20's at this point. You can tell it's 1984 by the uniforms, lack of batting helmets, the bats being used, etc. And, on top of the announcers being amateurish, and humorous, the color commentary guy is actually an American who moved to NZ and thinks of himself as a Kiwi, his bias in his commentary is legendary for the games that were on TV down there. It's hard to tell on video how hard these guys are throwing but, my guess would be 80mph range... 46 feet away.

Oh man. Thanks Bill for sharing. Great VID!!! always wanted to see Mike White in action. Thank you!

 

[Hillhouse]

What’s u

What’s up with all the lefty batters for Can-Am? Left pitcher also I love it!!!

Just in this small sample size I would take the Can-Am pitcher over White. The Can-Am batters were swinging at a lot of bad pitches up by their heads.

The Can-Am SS was a vacuum with a canon for an arm. Lots of speed on both teams.

What was that about a NZ batter being a righty Slapper? Is that even a thing or are the buffoon announcers just consuming too much Fosters Ale?

First of all, Foster's is Australian not New Zealand... and actually truth be told, nobody in Aussie drinks Fosters. In fact they laugh at us for thinking they do, and popularizing it with Outback steak. But the announcers are clueless at times, much like ESPN's. Except these guys aren't "2 time Olympic Gold medalist...." announcing. I'm not sure if the "righty slapper" was a fake bunt, pull back and slap it type thing but no, there's no such thing as a RH slapper.

Not sure which CanAm pitcher you'd take over White but, all of the pitchers in this 2 game series (I think this was game 2) were the best of the best. White was just coming into his own here, NZ went on to win the ISF World Championship that year, their first of 7 championships. Whitey also pitched for them in 1992 and 96, throwing a perfect game in the final vs. Canada in 96. A perfect game in the finals. He is on the Mt Rushmore of all time greats.

Again, it's hard to see on video how hard these guys were throwing. Seeing a game like this on video doesn't do it justice.

The other thing to keep in mind is about 3/4 of the CanAM team had only been in NZ a few days before these games, played in mid Feb 1984. They came out of winter to go to NZ's summer for the tour. The other 1/4 were already playing in NZ at the time, including the SS you liked. As I said, most everyone I've ever met in and around the game, old timers from way before my playing days even, say that SS is who invented slap hitting. In a mid-season game, you'd see 70% dropballs thrown. But taking guys out of season,... I'd throw riseballs at 'em too. Good luck!! lol.

 

[Hillhouse]

What’s u

What’s up with all the lefty batters for Can-Am? Left pitcher also I love it!!!

Just in this small sample size I would take the Can-Am pitcher over White. The Can-Am batters were swinging at a lot of bad pitches up by their heads.

The Can-Am SS was a vacuum with a canon for an arm. Lots of speed on both teams.

What was that about a NZ batter being a righty Slapper? Is that even a thing or are the buffoon announcers just consuming too much Fosters Ale?

I just rechecked it..... the lefty CanAm pitcher is Mark Smith. He's the Canadian women's Olympic coach, and in about every HoF known to man for pitching and hitting. He was in his early 20's here too.

For those keeping score at home, I was 12 when this was filmed. I'd be playing in NZ 6 years later.

 

[4KidsDad]

Those are up- balls that are actually upping!

And Im digging the umpire mechanics!