Spring training!

cc,

There are times to take a walk and there are times to get some wood on the ball. With a guy on 3rd with less than two outs - that is the time to get some wood on the ball - even a sac fly or ground out that scores the run. And I think if you attend to the game throughout an entire season, you understand the importance of that more and more. I followed the Tigers on my Palm PDA last year - probably followed a hundred of their games (not all the way through, mind you - I do have a life), and I cannot tell you how frustrated I was with some of the Tigers' inability to score a guy from 3rd with less than 2 outs. It is maddening. Just that inability alone cost them 3 or 4 games last year.

I'm not a big fan of Dusty Baker, but I think he gets made fun of way too much by you bitter Cubs fans. Just for that, I hope the Reds take the NL Central by storm and have you guys waiting for next year again. j/k...kinda. :laugh:

 

Why would you think I'm a Cubs fan? I never said that I was a Cubs fan. In fact, I have stated that I'm not a Cubs fan.

I never said that either. I'm making fun of the idea of "clogging up the basepaths" as if having more baserunners is a bad thing.

So, the batter should do everything in his power to get wood on the ball? Does this include swinging at pitches out of the strike zone?

If you're going to tell me that "clutch hitting" is an ability, then all that's going to do is give us more to disagree about.

 

I'm sorry - I truly thought you were a Cubs fan. Who's your team? I'm sorry that I've forgot that.

Again, in defense of Dusty, I don't think he was saying that having more baserunners is a bad thing. I think he was saying that merely having more baserunners without any corresponding run production was a pointless thing. And I agree with him. It's all about scoring runs when you are at the plate.

At times, yes, it would possibly include swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. Some are better at it than others. There are times when you "sacrifice" your own stats to get that run across. There is a balance here - a batter has to know his own limits. If he can't successfully hit a ball outside the strike zone, then he shouldn't do it. I would rather he take a walk than to strike out, for instance.

Yes, I believe hitting a baseball is an ability. Therefore, hitting in pressure situations is also an ability. Being in a pressure situation does not all of a sudden turn the act of hitting a baseball into a non-ability, does it? The fact is, we are dealing with human beings here. For instance, some people can make dozens of free throws in a row in their backyard, but if you asked them to do it before 50,000 fans screaming and waving their arms, the task suddenly becomes a tad more difficult, does it not? The same thing with hitting in a pressure situation. Some are better at it than others. That is undisputable, and it is easily proven by statistical analysis.

 

I am the bitter ole Cubs fan around here :smilewinkgrin:

 

Haven't really had a team since the '94 strike. My childhood team was the Reds, so maybe that's still my team, but I really, really, really can't bring myself to root for a team that has Dusty Baker as manager.

Obviously, who wouldn't agree with that. However, what Dusty hasn't seemed to comprehend is that you can't score runs consistently if you don't have baserunners in the first place.

Do you have any links or some such thing that proves this? I have yet to see the statistical analysis that proves there is such a stat as "clutch hitting average", or something along those lines.

 

None off hand, but I know I've seen some. In fact, I think Bill James did something on this. His theory was that a clutch hitter is someone who hits demonstrably better in clutch situations than he does in normal situations. For instance, a guy might hit .250 in normal situations but hit .300 in clutch situations. However, you might also have a guy who hits .350 in both normal and clutch situations. Such a hitter would not necessarily be considered "clutch" - he's just great. I would rather have the latter player, obviously. But that does not diminish the fact that the first player rises above his normal performance in clutch situations, and thus, is a clutch hitter.

 

4His, I liked your avatar so much, I decided to join the fun and give myself an Olde Englishe Dee!

Inge's problem was never his defense - I would put him in the top 3-5 in all the Bigs. The problem was his wildy inconistent hitting and his penchant for striking out with runners in scoring position.