Pitcher or slugger?

by user Steaksammich

Which do you prefer, a 1-0 pitcher's duel or a 14-13 slugfest?

Personally, I have a short attention span. It doesn't matter how much I might like baseball, I can't sit down and watch it for 3 hours straight if nothing is happening. Last night's 1-0 game between TB and SEA when the only run of the game was scored on a balk would be nearly impossible for me to watch. There were 8 hits in the entire game. Sure, some people love to watch a young up-and-comer like Scott Kazmir dominate the opposition. And a lot of baseball strategy comes into play when trying to manufacture one run. But after a while every inning begins to look the same.

I definately prefer offense. Give me a back and forth game where one team takes the lead with a 2 run first only to lose it when the home team scores 3 in the bottom of the inning. A final score of 10-9 may not be pretty, but with the two teams bouncing back and forth at least it will be exciting. In a game like that it doesn't matter if one team has a 2 run lead going into the 8th. You know the offenses are clicking and a 2 run lead can easily be overcome.

For me the exception to the rule is when two great pitchers are going at it. Kazmir and Moyer don't qualify in my mind, but if the Josh Beckett/Randy Johnson game had been a 2-0 game it would've been a great game. Even the Curt Schilling/Mike Mussina match up could've ended in a low scoring contest and I wouldn't have minded. When two dominant pitchers go at it you have the makings of an instant classic. One of the greatest games I've ever witnessed was a 2-0 Sox win over the Yankees. Pedro Marintez, the man Sox fans worshipped as a god, was taking on Roger Clemens, the man Sox fans treated as if he were the devil. Both pitchers went the entire game and neither offense could get anything going until Trot Nixon hit a 2 run shot in the 8th inning to provide the only offense for the game.

I guess what I'm saying is that the offensive battles are usually good, but under the right conditions, a pitcher's dual has the potential to be great. Most of the time though I'm going to enjoy a high scoring game over a low scoring one.

Date
Thu 05/11/06, 7:00 am EST