Baseball people, do you agree with this assessment?
Posted by
prayformojo (aka mayhem)
Aug 7 '17, 12:23
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Baseball’s gradual, momentous and almost imperceptible transformation — from a game of intense strategy, scrappy hitters, crafty pitchers and defensive wizardry to one in which the pitcher-versus-batter matchup towers in importance over the combined mass of everything else — found its ultimate expression in the 12 trips to the plate made by Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo during a four-game series in Cleveland in late June.
In a performance that, depending upon one’s viewpoint, served as either a pinnacle or a nadir for the trend that has come to be known as “Three True Outcomes,” Gallo did the following in those 12 plate appearances: walk, home run, strikeout, walk, walk, strikeout, strikeout, walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout, strikeout.
None of those actions, you’ll note, required the services of a member of the Indians’ defense, save the pitcher and catcher. The Indians could have ordered the rest of their fielders to lie down in the grass or dirt for a brief snooze during Gallo’s at-bats without altering their outcomes, or that of the game.
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Responses:
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