The Oakland A’s are a very good baseball team. They are also a poster child for today’s game. They walk, hit HRs and strikeout. Here are the batting averages for their top players:
Kemp .247
Canha .246
Grossman .241
Chapman 232
Pinder 232
Piscotty.226
Semien 223
Murphy223
Laureano 213
Davis 200
Olson 195
They hit .225 as a team. Course, that wasn’t the worst of the playoff teams. Milwaukee hit .223. Cincy .212. That’s right Two Hundred and Twelve.
4 playoff teams hit over .250- Atlanta .265. Sox 261. Dodgers 256. Toronto 255.
This is what happens when you devalue batting average and turn the game into one in which the only thing that matters is how many times you can hit the ball over the fence. The game has suffered I think tremendously as a result. But if players are only going to value homeruns – that’s what will shoot for because that’s where the money is. To an extent it’s where it’s always been but you still could make a pretty good living in major league baseball simply by being a good hitter. And I mean hitter not walker.
Another thing that I think is killing batting average and hurting the game is shifts . I would make them illegal were I commissioner. At the very least you have to have four infielders on the skin. I absolutely hate it when a left-handed hitter hits a one hopper and is thrown out by some guy positioning like a rover in slow pitch softball Further, if I’m teaching a kid to hit right now he sitting right handed. They don’t have that issue. You’re not gonna get thrown out by the short stop playing shallow leftfield
Kemp .247
Canha .246
Grossman .241
Chapman 232
Pinder 232
Piscotty.226
Semien 223
Murphy223
Laureano 213
Davis 200
Olson 195
They hit .225 as a team. Course, that wasn’t the worst of the playoff teams. Milwaukee hit .223. Cincy .212. That’s right Two Hundred and Twelve.
4 playoff teams hit over .250- Atlanta .265. Sox 261. Dodgers 256. Toronto 255.
This is what happens when you devalue batting average and turn the game into one in which the only thing that matters is how many times you can hit the ball over the fence. The game has suffered I think tremendously as a result. But if players are only going to value homeruns – that’s what will shoot for because that’s where the money is. To an extent it’s where it’s always been but you still could make a pretty good living in major league baseball simply by being a good hitter. And I mean hitter not walker.
Another thing that I think is killing batting average and hurting the game is shifts . I would make them illegal were I commissioner. At the very least you have to have four infielders on the skin. I absolutely hate it when a left-handed hitter hits a one hopper and is thrown out by some guy positioning like a rover in slow pitch softball Further, if I’m teaching a kid to hit right now he sitting right handed. They don’t have that issue. You’re not gonna get thrown out by the short stop playing shallow leftfield