Article:Strikeouts an Accepted Part of Today's Game, but They Shouldn't Have to Be

In addition to being the only three members of the 700 homerun club, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth share a number of other commonalities. We know they were all outfielders, for example. We know that two of the three, Aaron and Ruth, finished their careers with averages over .300, while Bonds finished at .298. We know all played in the World Series, with Aaron and Ruth experiencing the ring. We may not know, for example, that they all won batting titles, or they walked more than they struck out. Did you know they combined to play 67 seasons and had ONE season with 100 or more strikeouts, and that was the 102 recorded by Bonds in his rookie season?

If you combine their top two seasons, Bonds leads the way with 195 strikeouts, Aaron is at 193, with the Babe checking in at 183. There have been 16 seasons in ML history where one hitter has struck out 185 times or more, with 12 of those occurring since 2001. So far this season, Philadelphia's Ryan Howard and Arizona's Mark Reynolds have surpassed 185 strikeouts, with Oakland's Jack Cust an almost certainty to reach the mark as he is sitting on 180 strikeouts with 13 games remaining.

In a recent interview, Reynolds made several comments on his strikeout totals which shows part of what is wrong with baseball today. When told by the interviewer he was close to breaking Howard's single season record of 199, Reynolds replied;

"It's the way I hit, I don't know what to attribute it to. Of course, I don't enjoy striking out, but if it happens, it happens, whatever."

Really, Mark, you don't know what to attribute it to? How about being clueless when you go to the plate, not knowing the strike zone, not being able to recognize pitches, or how to hit situationally?

Going on, Reynolds said he understands that "making more contact can be beneficial at times."

At times? How about all the time? Name one time where not making contact is beneficial? Geez, even a sacrifice bunt is beneficial.

Continuing, "If you put the ball in play, you have a chance to get on base, if you strike out, you have no chance to get on base. They're not good outs, but it's the nature of the beast."

Finishing up, Reynolds final comment echoes the thought process of many in the game, "But if they (the Dbacks) can tolerate it and keep putting me out there, I'm going to keep trying to do my thing." So, not only do the players accept it, but the teams as well. Maybe the players are OK because they know there will be no reperucussions, no return trips to the minors or after game work in the cage.

Reynolds is 24 years old, in his first full ML season. He is, in fact, on pace for 204 strikeouts, and will own the record all to himself save for the fact Howard is on pace for 210 K's. Reynolds also leads all ML third baseman in errors with 31, it's one thing to be a "good field, no hit" type player, or vice versa, but when you don't contribute on either side of the ball, and your team keeps penciling you into the lineup, that's a problem. Howard himself is no gold glover, and while I'll never condone strikeouts, there's a big difference between 44 homers and 25, and 123 RBI's and 87.

Aaron, Ruth and Bonds combined to have 27 seasons of 40 homers or more, and hit .300 or better in 24 of them. They combined to have 29 seasons of 120 RBI's or more, and combined to hit .300 or more in 24 of them. And they're not the only ones, the 700 HR club is an exclusive one, hitting .300 with power and few strikeouts is not. Willie Mays had one 100 career strikeout season, his last full season. Ted Williams never had a 100 strikeout season. Frank Robinson just one, and it was 100 on the nose. Jimmy Foxx had just two.

And neither has Albert Pujols. Four seasons of 40+ homers, five of 120+ RBI's, all of in which he has hit .300. Today's game is different, no question. Like Ralph Kiner famously said, "homer hitters drive Cadillacs", well, homer hitters today own Cadillac dealerships. Baseball is willing to accept an inferior attitude towards the game, and an inferior product, because that's what the sponsors want. But, as has been proven for at least 85 years, it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. Wouldn't Mark Reynolds and Ryan Howard and Jack Cust be more valuable to their teams if they cut their strikeouts in half? Wouldn't they be more valuable if they put the ball in play another 100 times a season? How big would the Dbacks and Phillies division leads be now if both were hitting .300, instead of .243 and .244, respectively? And yet, their teams so willingly accept poor performance because it's the "status quo?"

Hitting a baseball is undoubtedly the toughest single fundamental in all of sports, but what is so difficult about being a "smart" hitter? Pitching is down, parks are smaller, guys would be surprised how far a 1-2 breaking ball on the outside part of the plate will travel if they used good hitting techniques and combined them with proper situational hitting. Instead, they try and pull everything, they look more like a six year old flailing away at pitches at a pinata than a major league hitter.

Am I expecting too much?

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