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THE BASEBALL HISTORY COMES ALIVE BLOG
Please note: As we compose new blog entries, we will now send each one out to all our subscribers as we post them. Here’s a link to see the entire Blog Archives -GL
New Blog Topic: STRIKEOUTS CONTINUE TO SKYROCKET
It’s really an open secret, one that Major League Baseball seems to ignore. But for how long? Many veteran sportswriters are calling attention to it more often than ever with the bottom line being that the analytics-driven strikeout or home run game is doing irreparable damage to baseball. I’ve mentioned it in this space already and last Sunday I read a column by veteran sportswriter Bill Madden in the New York Daily News that once again brought home the extent to which the increasing number of strikeouts is affecting the game.
Anyone taking a close look at the long history of the game can see that for many years the strikeout was considered a mark of failure. Players simply hated to take that slow walk back to the dugout. Perhaps the epitome of the guy who most hated to fan was Joe Sewell, a Hall of Famer who played from 1920 to 1933. In 8,333 plate appearances, Sewell struck out just 114 times, never more than 20 times in a season In two separate seasons, he whiffed just four times, in 699 and 672 plate appearances. Totally amazing.
[see featured photo above of HOFer Joe Sewell]
Other great Hall of Famers from earlier days also hated to strikeout. The great Babe Ruth did fan on 1,330 occasions, but never more than 93 times in a season. Lou Gehrig struck out just 790 times, Ted Williams 709, Stan Musial 696, and Joe
DiMaggio only 369 times while hitting 361 home runs. None of them fanned more than 100 times in a season. The best pure hitter of recent vintage, Tony Gwynn, struck out only 434 times in 10,232 plate appearance, never more than 40 times in a season. These stats simply represent a point of reference.
Today, it’s completely different. In 2018, baseball reached an ignominious milestone. It was the first year in which there were more strikeouts league-wide (41,207) than hits (41,018). The difference grew in 2019 with almost 800 more strikeouts than hits, and in the pandemic shortened season of 2020, there were an incredible 1,147 more K’s than safeties.
Bill Madden pointed that as of Friday, April 23, less than a month into the current season, there were already 4,973 strikeouts throughout baseball with just 4,191 hits. To make the number even clearer, there was just one team, the Boston Red Sox, with more hits than strikeouts. And some of the numbers were daunting. A three-game series between the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays produced 78 total strikeouts, while in a seven-inning game of a doubleheader between the Mets and Colorado Rockies, 17 of the Rockies 21 outs came via the strikeout. Real fun game to watch.
One more interesting stat. There are just two players currently in the Hall of Fame who have more strikeouts than hits – sluggers Jim Thome and Reggie Jackson. In fact, Mr. October is the all-time leader with 2,597 whiffs, nearly twice as many as Babe Ruth. Reggie fanned more than 100 times in 18 of his 21 big league seasons. He still managed 2,584 hits. He also hit 563 home runs and is remembered for his clutch performances in the World Series. But had he only fanned half that many times his lifetime batting average would have been much higher than .262.
Unfortunately, many of today’s young stars are following Reggie’s lead, hitting home runs but striking out in larger numbers than their total hits. And by all indications, the pattern will continue as long as players continue to swing for home runs without anyone caring how many times they strikeout. Many of the young general managers and computer whizzes in their analytics departments who are running the game today never saw baseball played with all its previous strategies, didn’t see how the game could be exciting with bunts, hit-and-run plays, long rallies, stolen bases, and squeeze plays. Today it just seems to be “keep swinging, get that launch angle right so you can put the ball in the air and hit it over the fence. And if you strike out while trying to do that, so be it.”
To many of us, today’s game has become boring, a description echoed by Boston’s manager Alex Cora when he watched the game during his year-long suspension. And he’s been joined by many others, including former players, veteran writers, and longtime fans. Baseball’s need for more action, i.e., more balls in play, isn’t going to happen if the current trend continues.
Bill Madden, in his column, had an insightful quote from former manager Buck Showalter. Said Showalter, “Years ago, guys striking out 150 or more times didn’t stay on their clubs long, but today players are learning you can make more money striking out a ton of times as long as you hit homers. There’s no shame in striking out anymore. Until players get penalized for striking out, not putting the ball in play with a runner on third and two outs, the game will continue as it’s going.” Right now, there’s no indication that’s going to happen.
And, no, I’m not forgetting the pitchers. Obviously, today’s game is loaded with power arms throwing high heat, guys who might accurately be labeled strikeout pitchers. And, yes, there have been great strikeout pitchers in the past when everyone didn’t strike out so often, guys like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson, Bob Gibson and Tom Seaver. But they were starters who more often than not went the distance. Today there’s a parade of hard-throwing relievers coming into games one after another, with most throwing gas. But knowing this, isn’t it up to the hitters to adjust, shorten their swings, and be more concerned with just making contact instead of always trying to hit it out? It would certainly make for a more interesting game.
I’ve said this before and maybe it bears repeating now. The first pitcher to record 3,000 strikeouts was Walter Johnson, who pitched from 1907 to 1927, with 12
years of his career in the Dead Ball Era when no one tried to hit home runs. Johnson fanned 3,509 hitters during his great Hall of Fame career. Today, the Big Train ranks just ninth on the all-time strikeout list and, in the future, may well move further down the list. But considering the way the game was played then as opposed to how it’s played now, it may be accurate to say that Walter Johnson was the greatest strikeout pitchers of all time.
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You’re right about the game becoming boring, Bill. I find I’m always doing something else with the sound down when I have a game on. Last time I checked, the Cubs had more than twice as many strikeouts as hits. Makes for a boring game.
Amen, Gary.
I can hardly wait for the time when a team wins the World Series playing base ball (others call it small ball). Since baseball teams are copy cats, all other teams will go to playing base ball. There may be so much action that people in the stands have to turn off their cell phones and watch the game. And, relearn baseball strategy. I probably won’t live long enough to see it, but I can dream.
Many of us are having the same dream, Jim. So much of the strategy has disappeared that much of the beauty has been taken out of the game. Instead of teaching young players about launch angles and getting the ball in the air, maybe someone will decide to teach them to bunt and hit to the opposite field so they can defeat the shift, and take shorter swings in order to make contact. Until then the strikeouts will mount and players will continue to swing for the fences.
What grieves me about this trend is that baseball is no longer a team game. The home run or strikeout “strategy” (which may well be an abuse of the word) has nothing to do with team mates and all to do with “me” and my contract. Baseball is no longer a “brain game”. The home run or strikeout “strategy” has nothing to do with heads-up base running or even good defense.
Football may be based on physical prowess, but at the players rely on each other.
I sure can’t argue with that, Ed. A long time ago, when baseball was still a great game, Casey Stengel once quipped, “Home run hitters drive Cadillacs.” Today everyone wants to be a home run hitter and so many of the fundamentals, as well as the long time strategies, have been lost. In a way, the same thing has happened to basketball, where the game has become shooting three or dunking. Both sports have lost some of their beauty.
I left MLB for many reasons, some included in this article.
If you want fast paced, fan friendly baseball try the Savannah Bananas.
They have many videos posted to YouTube.
I know many other longterm fans who have been turned off by today’s game, Bob. Just checked out the Savannah Bananas and it looks like a great time for all and real baseball. I know there are a lot of between innings fun for fans at the lower minor league level as well. Major League Baseball, despite their protestations to the contrary, is no longer fan friendly. The prices for everything are outrageous and the game is often boring. Fans often spend more time looking at their smartphones than at the field. It’s not surprising that attendance has been dropping steadily the last few years.
I really hadn’t stopped to figure out why, so this commentary helped me understand why I rarely watch a game on television. It’s BORING! And long. Even if my favorite team – which is just about useless – is on the tube, I may watch a couple innings, but I can’t take any more than that. I looked at someone’s stats the other day and I’d never seen so many columns – many with three letters at the top that I had to look up on the internet to find out what they stood for….and then try to understand why it was important and how it’s calculated.
So thank you, Bill, for letting me know why the problem existed.
You’re welcome, Everett. Many of us have been turned off by today’s game, all the crazy “advanced” stats and the way analytics is running the game. Good, old-fashioned baseball is fast becoming a thing of the past. Let’s hope someday it can reverse itself and become the game it used to be. Much more action, much more strategy, and much more fun to watch.
Yeah, I get it. Hate the all or nothing wrap-around swing. And very funny with Everett complaining about all the stats. The eye test of a player is still the best evaluator.
But if you’re an avid fan, the 17 strikeouts out of 21 outs recorded by deGrom and Diaz was exciting. That was the first time since 1900 that 81% of the recorded outs in a game were strikeouts. Of course, I don’t want the Mets to whiff at all!
But yes, Bill, batters need to adjust to fresh, powerful arms throwing 100 plus. The short compact swing would provide more RBI and fewer K’s. More balls in play would be nice.
I’d like to think a trend might be starting.
By the way, the highest ERA + 291 was recorded by Pedro Martinez in 2000. Jacob deGrom is now posting an ERA + of 1233!
Do you think Jake’s early TJ surgery has actually created a bionic arm? Only mostly kidding.
Best,
TOB
Hey Bill.
Actually looked it up the other day. Jake has his TJ surgery in 2014. The surgeon must have done one helluva good job because he’s throwing harder than ever and hasn’t had a problem (that I know of) with the elbow since. And sure, it’s exciting to watch a dominant pile up the K’s. Unfortunately, the K’s pile up every day and night from almost all pitchers. When I gave the 17 of 21 stat I knew it was deGrom, but still used it to point up the inordinate amount of strikeouts in today’s game and how the hitters and MLB just accept it. No one seems to put one and one together and realize it equals a boring game. I’m not that optimistic about a trend beginning soon. But I guess you never know. Maybe one smart GM will figure it out and change the direction of an entire organization. I guess we can just hope.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Great topic. I agree that the overall increase in K’s does not make the game better. It seems to me that from the time Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux did the TV commercial in which these three HOF’ers joked that ‘Chicks Dig the Long Ball’, was an indication of where the game had already gone. Of course those three greats masterfully used hitter’s aggressive swing tendencies to their advantage whether that be a strikeout or soft contact. As is pointed out, change will come when the way hitters get paid is less dependent on HR’s and more dependent on overall effectiveness as well as situational effectiveness. The same way hitting the ball to the open area when the infield shift is in play will change the way defenses deploy and stop this silly talk about ‘outlawing the shift’.