So let’s talk about how baseball’s offense is down. This is one of the hottest conversations in the sport right now. You know the song. Strikeouts are out of control. The shift is choking the life out of offense. Batting averages are way, way down. Everyone has a solution. Lower the mound. Shrink the strike zone. Ban the shift. Limit the pitchers. And so on.
Let me make a bizarre but fervent counterargument here.
Without the huge strikeout numbers and whatever value the shift provides, offense would be so out of control that the game would be hardly recognizable.
Source: Joe Posnanski, MLB.com
The magic and legacy of the game was very much tied up within the consistency of Statistics throughout Baseballs “After Babe” ERA. More specifically, the game changed in Drips and Drabs after wwII. Even the influx of Racial Integration and great expansion did not move the statistical Moorings to a great extent.
Tony LaRusa had a thought about relievers, and some stats to back up his decision to establish the “Closer Position” as it had not been defined and used prior—- and that launched Baseball Science and a storm of smart guys asking “What Next???!!…what else can we do to seek Advantage???”.
The game is almost twice as lengthy…. there are more K’s than Hits….. Shifts…Pitching Changes……… and the Stats????—The Stats!!!!!!!!…?????
The game is greatly changed…and it’s not more fun to watch!…what next?