Now, far be it for me to doubt that Kerwin Danley is infalible, but I know that on the NESN pitch tracker, nothing is EVER a strike.

Either umpires are having the Divisional Series of their lives, or the thing is bogus.

If you want to make random political arguments that have nothing to do with the thrust of what you just read (and don’t sway anyone, regardless), there are literally thousands of other places on the Internet that serve just that purpose. I suggest you fools go there. Now.

Great line, Joaldo. Thanks for another entertaining and thoughtful post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-springsteen/from-the-stage-at-the-vot_b_131966.html

Peace.

Just as a little bit of an explanation regarding Cito changing the Jays’ approach at the plate. He didn’t come in advocating the players swing at the first pitch in an AB. The Jays had a problem with swinging at any good pitch…they were so focused on trying to drive up the pitch counts that they were letting grooved 2-0 pitches go by. Their OBP likely went up because their BA went way up with Cito (and Gene Tenace) telling them that if they get into a great hitter’s count to be aggressive. The Jays certainly did not start “swinging at anything close”, they simply stopped worrying about the pitcher’s pitch count and started thinking about getting a good pitch to hit and then ripping it.

The simple fact is that with many pitchers the best pitch is often the first pitch.

I’m not entirely sure what Hatcher’s batting approach is, but Cito’s is definitely NOT anti-walk. It’s all about being aggressive when the count is in your favour and swinging at the best pitch thrown. Succeed at that and your BA (and OBP) will go up.