04/20/24
May 30, 2003
"Batters are getting hit with pitches...: once every 98.3 plate appearances. That's an 8% increase from last year and a 47% increase from 1990." USA Today analyzes the effects of calling the strike zone by the rules. (Flash graphic)
posted by kirkaracha to baseball at 12:10 PM - 2 comments
Former major-league pitcher (for the Cardinals!) Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabrosky said during a Fox Sports Midwest broadcast last night he thinks the pendulum has swung back the other way, and major-league umpires are again calling the inside strike. I agree. For years, hitters have been allowed to hang out over the inside corner of the plate, plus they've been allowed to wear what in effect is body armor to diminish the risk of injuries. Now, umpires have started again calling the inside strike that had nearly vanished from the game. This has given pitchers more of a carrot to take the chance at throwing tight. They're getting more Ks, but they're also plunking more guys. You'll also notice more broken bats as players try to fight off fastballs in on their hands. I'm all for it. Let's see more of Barry Bonds and Jeff Bagwell on their butts in the batter's box, wondering if that NEXT Curt Schilling fastball will be lodged firmly in their ears.
posted by wfrazerjr at 03:33 PM on May 31, 2003
That's nuts. If you figure an absolute minimum of 52 at-bats in a game (only one hit, a solo home run by the home team in any inning 1-8 and an otherwise perfect game by both pitchers) that's more than one every other game. More realistically, we're talking probably what, 70 or so ABs a game, average? Maybe more, I don't know. That's more than one HBP per game and a half. No wonder things are getting out of control. Maybe MLB is encouraging it implicitly though. Kind of the way that ESPN and the NHL showed commercials promoting the fights in games b/c research proved that fans really liked that kind of stuff? Is this the beginning of the WWE-ization of valid professional sports?