Let me remind you of Red Smith’s observation about baseball: it’s only a boring game to boring people. IMHO, same is true of soccer and its non-fans.

And a couple of factual corrections: (1) the average goal count in UEFA Champions League games is a bit over 3, so the avergae score is more likely 2-1 (and probably [where is soccer-reference.com when you need it?] higher in “regular season” games); and (2) a scoreless draw that ended on PKs would be listed as “0-0 (won on penalty kicks)”.

Laurence (#28) –

Brilliant use of reductio ad absurdum. Follow it to its logical conclusion, and Phillips’ argument is that anything less than a HR is for sissies.

Completely the other way? Aren’t Castro and Chavez also considered dictators?

(OK, I guess you could count the case where the outfielder made a lousy throw, or the catcher dropped the ball, or something.)

The walk mindset is about making pitchers work as hard as possible for the outs that are recorded. The harder the pitcher has to work, the less successful he is going to be.

The Royals should run more IF they can do so successfully (at least 70% success rate). If they cannot be successful at running, they shouldn’t run.

I never liked sacrificing an out to move a runner up. But it does work sometimes. The A’s made a game of it with the Yankees last night due to a good sacrifice with men on first and second. But too often, it just gives up an out and makes the pitcher’s job just a little too easy.

Look, I’m not saying Maradona’s definitely better, I’m just saying there is more of an argument. And yeah, I’d say Cruyff is in the discussion as well. Best? No thanks. Not even in the same league, in my book.

And Aaron, yes, you’re right. It is cool that the 10 is still a very soccer number and that people would attribute it to a soccer player. I have no idea how to get Americans to enjoy soccer more. I know I didn’t until I watched my then-girlfriend and now wife play alot in college. Now, I follow it with as much passion as any other “American sport.”

Be happy we even vote for a soccer player, because the vast majority of us, maybe watch it every 4 years for the World Cup. And that’s a big maybe.

The only thing DeJesus has demonstrated in the last two seasons is the ability to be caught stealing (or picked off) when asked.

Bearing in mind that, in terms of outcome, a walk is never *better* than a hit (it is often equally as good as a single and I suppose might be considered better if you’re trying to wear out a starter, but a walk cannot move more baserunners than a single, ever) you could look on a walk as the least good positive outcome of an at-bat.

Now given that, in the same way, a single can never be better than a double, you could see Brandon Phillips’s anti-walk views as being not as manly as a batter saying “I don’t bother with singles – everyone knows that real men clear the bases when they get up to bat, so I’m not going in there looking for anything less than a double. A triple if there’s a fat guy on first.”

So if real men don’t walk, surely *real* men don’t hit singles?