|
20-plus HRs each year. Call him a nice George Brett.
Here's hoping I'm right and Billy Beane ball is the wave of the future. Beane, the brains behind the Oakland franchise, wants good pitching and fielding (defense) coupled with OBP. Homers are nice, but the game is about winning and Beane wins in a small market with little money. Beane gets rid of hitters who are hackers, revering pitch selection, walks, hits and runs. The homer figures, but isn't the end all and be all.
Boston copied his techniques and finally went all the way last year.
A key well may be Toronto. The Blue Jays have committed to the same program, and success would persuade many more franchises into trying this methodology. It doesn't take the round-tripper out of the equation, but it brings perspective back to the game. The game is about scoring the most runs, not the most home runs.
Curb homer-mania and the steroids problem will recede. And the best way to curb the homer mania is to stop caring who (in broadcaster slang) went 'yard' most. Instead, focus more on which players make the fewest outs. It's a team game and the team with the fewest mistakes wins, not the team with the strongest guys.
Here are a few questions: Did the Cardinals win it all the year Mark McGwire set the all-time home run record for a single season? Did Sammy Sosa lead the Cubs out of the wilderness and into the World Series? Did Luis Gonzalez top 50 homers (which he did in only one season) the year the Arizona Diamondbacks won it all?
Personally I think the Babe was a better pitcher than he was a hitter. My heroes in the hitting department are guys with names like Rogers Hornsby, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs…not Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire.
The best hitters in baseball walk and hit doubles. How's that for being frank, Frank?
John Barrette is a former reporter for the UPI, AP, Omaha World Herald, Lincoln Journal Star.
|
|
