Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 11, 2004
Don't Walk

Douglas Calhoun sends this link to a Chicago-Sun Times article in which Dusty Baker gives his opinion on offensive walks. He doesn't like them.


Cubs manager Dusty Baker has some advice for young players who are encouraged by coaches and parents to wait out pitches and try to draw a walk: Swing away.

''It's like when I see kids in Little League, the small kid, and they make them go up there and try to get a walk,'' Baker said. ''It's not any fun. It's called hitting; it's not called walking. Have you ever seen like a Top 10 walking? The name of the game is to hit.''


Just for the record, I have seen a top 10 walking. Baker then digs himself into a hole:

''Walks help, but you aren't going to walk across the plate,'' Baker said. ''You've got to hit across the plate. Who has been champions quite a bit the last seven, eight years?''

Told the New York Yankees, Baker used them to prove his point.
''Now, have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks?'' he said.


I'd say yes. They've finished first in the AL in walks three times from 1998 on. 2001 Was the only year in which they drew less than 600 walks. After that they replace Brosius and Martinez with Ventura and Giambi, two players who draw a lot of walks. Dusty seems to know as much about offense as he does about heat.

Douglas comments:


I was particularly amused (and disappointed, as a Cubs fan) by the last quote. No, you might not hear about the Yankees taking walks. But I guess Dusty didn't bother to look up that the Yankees consistently lead the league in that category. Maybe he's just sticking up for his free-swinging players, but it would be nice if he would focus on improving deficiencies rather than relying on played-out, "old-school" macho attitudes.

Right on, Douglas.


Posted by David Pinto at 02:01 PM | Offense | TrackBack (3)
Comments

the yankees have been talking about walks since the early nineties, as well as leading the league

Posted by: travis knight at March 11, 2004 02:58 PM

Apparently Dusty regards his time in SF with Bonds as a multi-year fluke, and wants to get back to some good ol'-fashioned hacktastic fun.

Seriously, Dusty's really not that dumb, but he gets on these weird kicks - calling Livan Hernandez his "ace" in 2002, trotting out a completely used-up Dunston to throw away one at-bat after another, falling in love with Shawn Estes - that just grind on you after a while. I liked the job he did with the Giants, but I was ready to see him leave after 2002, and I suspect Cubs fans will feel the same way in 3 or 4 years.

Posted by: Mark B. at March 11, 2004 03:01 PM

Actually in Dusty's defense I've read a couple of books on hitting that he's contributed to and really, his big deal is with coaches who insist on little leaguers taking the first strike. He's big on knowing your stikezone but not missing your pitch. There's a difference between not swinging at balls out of your zone and going up to the plate looking for a walk.

Posted by: dan at March 11, 2004 03:40 PM

This is the funniest thing I've read in ages.
''Now, have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks?''
YES, YOU HAVE! CONSTANTLY!
It's not as if they're ashamed of the statistical evidence on this point - even old-school Joe Torre trumpets it.
Seriously, one of Torre's best points is the way he has accomodated and abetted the OBP/walks emphasis of the Yankee organization - while he offers at least one Bob Gibson anecdote per interview, he doesn't confuse hacking away blindly with masculinity.
Early in the 2000 or 2001 season (I don't remember which one), the Yanks were actually last in the league in walks for a while, and Torre wasn't ashamed to call that unacceptable and call team meetings to re-emphasize plate discipline.
The secret of managerial success is to

Posted by: Dr. Manhattan at March 11, 2004 04:34 PM

I'll take Dusty over Art Howe or Ken Macha anytime, everytime. Even though the Yanks take a lot of walks, none of them are defensive hitters. The A's on the other hand bat like they think they're going to get a certified letter from Billy Beane if they swing at ANY early pitch.

Posted by: steve at March 11, 2004 06:21 PM

When I was in little league, all I ever heard from my dad was, "Wait for your pitch, Sky, wait for your pitch. Then crush it."

If your pitch doesn't come, walk down to first. If it does, run for as long as you can.

Posted by: Sky at March 11, 2004 07:40 PM

Dusty Baker is very obviously unqualified to manage a major league baseball team.

Posted by: Matt Davis at March 11, 2004 08:11 PM

I'll take Dusty over Art Howe or Ken Macha anytime, everytime.

So it impresses you that Dusty Baker has no clue about the strategies of the most successful team in baseball?

Posted by: Floyd McWilliams at March 11, 2004 08:43 PM

No wonder he wouldn't wait for Hee Choi. I'm sure that's the guy Dusty's thinking about before he thinks about the A's or the Yankees. Choi is patient to a fault.

Posted by: Rowdy at March 11, 2004 09:20 PM

Hope springs forth in Houston and St. Louis. It's like the NL East: as long as Bowa is on the other side of the field, you've got a chance.

Posted by: John at March 11, 2004 10:16 PM

Baker made two basic points in his statement, one about little league and one about the pros. I think his point about little league was dead-on. As a former very small little-league player, I can attest that it is, in fact, no fun to be told to go get a walk. I got lots of walk, by virtue of the fact that the ball just barely fit in my strike zone. But I hated it, and I hated the fact that my coach kept telling me to take the pitches. Little-league players should swing, and should be told to swing. Patience can come later, once you have both confidence in your ability to hit, and a love for the game that comes from playing it, not standing and waiting.

Posted by: Russell at March 12, 2004 10:58 AM

Advise for little leaguers should be:
If the pitch is in the strike zone then hit it.
If the pitch is out of the strike zone then take it.
Consistently taking strikes does not make you a better hitter, but swinging at balls out of the strike zone DOES NOT make you a better hitter either. It tends to make you a worse hitter. Good hitting has two essential components:
1) a good swing 2) good pitch recognition.

Advice for major leaguers: IS THE SAME.
The greatest hitters--Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds--understood/understand this.

Leaders in career BBs:
Rickey Henderson
Barry Bonds
Babe Ruth
Ted Williams
Joe Morgan
Carl Yastrzemski
Mickey Mantle
Mel Ott

All of them are Hall of Famers (or will be in Bonds' and Henderson's cases) and are considered some of the best hitters of all time.

Dusty Baker's comments are incredibly misguided and ignorant.

Posted by: eric at March 12, 2004 02:13 PM

Those Baker quotes were two of the most embarassing things I've ever spoken by a Major League manager.

Posted by: Chris Malinowski at March 14, 2004 11:47 AM