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In 2022 15 NL teams had a total of around 20,600 strikeouts.
In 1985 12 NL teams had a total of around 10,600 strikeouts.
What do you make of that?
r/Esteemed Rat
In my view, K’s are exceedingly overrated unless, of course, you really, really need one to escape disaster, in which case the K is the pitcher’s holy grail. However, I’d much rather see a pitcher simply consistently record outs with an economy of effort and movement, so to speak. That’s not to say I’m not like the next guy who enjoys seeing a pitcher utterly annihilate a dangerous hitter when challenging him in a one on battle and giving him the Linda Ronstadt treatment in the manner of blowing a blistering fastball by him for a swinging K. The Moon Man put it into words the best…”Get ready, ’cause here it comes, Big Boy”…Haha!
Good idea to continually rip on a 23-year-old who is second on the team in homers and RBI…
Gorman’s 2023 OPS with:
RISP 1.037
Men on base .956When you have an agenda to push, trivialities like run production are overrated…
It was sarcasm. I know it wasn’t clear it is hard when writing on a forum. Rats has a strong dislike for Gorman only second to Bling’s. I like him a lot. Sorry for the confusion.
As far as hitters and the K goes, I think it was once a case of hitters possessing a mindset that consisted of the belief that being victimized by the K was as humiliating an experience as would be coming home and finding their wife or girlfriend engaged in extracurricular activities with the milkman…In other words, they’d do anything at all to keep themselves from that horrible fate when down in the count and would much rather be set down by softly tapping out, popping up, or hitting a lazy fly ball. Anything at all to put it in play. I don’t think they care too much about being put to shame by striking out anymore as long as they can look good doing so by wildly flailing for the fences with a baserunner aboard at 3B and less than 2 outs. At any rate, one of my favorite sets of meaningless numbers are from the 1950 season…656 PA’s .322/28/124 12 K’s…Yogi don’t K…
Those virtual reality hitting experience booths are still emerging technology so there are a few problems. The hitting the ball part is especially hard to get dialed in. Check back in another 40 years and you’ll be amazed.
Emphasizing launch angle and the three true outcomes are much more prevalent today than in 1985. Back then a .300 hitter will little power was viewed as an integral part of the team. Not today.
The evolution of baseball at the highest levels is towards power, both on offense and defense (pitching).
The old days were cooler because you had more variety of styles. You had some fire ballers, some guys who threw mostly off-speed and curves, and even a knuckle-baller here and there.
On offense you had a few power guys, a few speed guys, and some guys who were not particularly fast but could just plain hit (Rose, Gwynn, Boggs, etc).
If Pete Rose were time warped to today, he would probably be taught to muscle up more, and would be a guy who regularly hit 15-20 homers, but bat .285 to .300 with more Ks than he did in his prime.
Then again who knows – Arraez is kind of a throw back to the ‘80s.
I think you’re right about Rose, Bikemike. He was a guy who was put together pretty well and could muscle up and turn on one from time to time and hit quite a few HR’s early in his career. Pitchers had to be careful with him because he could put it over the wall. Moreover, he certainly displayed an ability to consistenly produce extra base hit power throughout his career. Pete was a genuine doubles machine.
He was indeed a good EBH guy. Pete is one of my favorite all-time players, although his character is not the best. He is sort of a scoundrel as far as his personality, and not the kind of person I would probably be comfortable being around.
But as a baseball player, he was a terrific example of playing to win.
Yeah, he was one of my favorites not only because he was good, but also because his entire demeanor seemed to be utterly captivated with a win at all cost mindset whenever he stepped on to a baseball field. It was as if he was under some sort of spell. It wouldn’t have surprised me too much if he’d be reasonably content and comfortable if the world ended just so long as he won that day’s baseball game…Haha! That’s just how he was.
I liked Pete Rose as a player also, even though he certainly isn’t a role model. One of the main reasons I liked him is because he wanted to play every single day. He rarely took a day off. Too many players today either are on the IL or need a day off once a week.
I’d have Pete Rose on my team any time, even with all the undesirable aspects some people attribute to him. The man was a ballplayer.
Like coach Bill Frieder, Pete absolutely loved playing the ponies. I know for a fact that coach Frieder is a lousy horse handicapper and if one saw him plopping money down on the #6 horse, it was almost a certainty that the #6 wasn’t going to be in the money. I get the sneaking suspicion that Pete’s handicapping skills weren’t Cooperstown worthy either……or wherever the horse racing hall of fame is. But Pete was one of the greats of all time and should be in the Hall. If Ty Cobb is enshrined then so should Pete Rose.
Rose did have the extra aggressiveness where he played all out all the time.
The unpardonable sin though was betting on his own team. Had he just stuck to the ponies and other games of chance, and stayed away from betting on the games he could influence, he would be in the Hall today.
I think we will see some of the ‘roid guys get in before Pete. Time will soften the senses towards the ‘roiders, and people will rationalize it saying things like, “After all, guys have stolen signs and wetted the ball and all that stuff, so gaining an illegal edge is nothing new.”
But betting on your own team, that one is a scarlett letter that stay on you for generations.
For players, managers, umpires, owners, executives and anyone else intimately connected to Big League baseball, wagering is without a doubt the eternal sin only because it has the potential to place the legitimacy of the outcome of any game into question. Once that legitimacy is questioned, it’s nothing more than a roller derby contest. It’s a treasonous act of the highest order and requires the guaranteed assurance of severe punishment as a deterrence to anyone who contemplates engaging themselves or participating in the act. It’s harsh, but there’s no other viable option available.
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