re hbp bb big cat kubey sgi com ken kubey said i suppose a foul ball machine like brett butler is pretty valuable but i d rather watch and root for the lower obp guys who can actually hit the ball now this is a legitimate point baseball is entertainment and i have no quarrel with people who find certain styles of play more entertaining than others regardless of their win value personally i m a huge fan of the slug bunt i doubt it s a high percentage play but i get a big kick out of it i am willing to live with the bad consequences in exchange for the fun of course this is not the same as claiming as some do that galarraga s inability to defer gratification isn t hurting his team because he isn t paid to walk or is an rbi guy or whatever and finally i d like to point out that many high obp guys draw their walks more because pitchers are afraid to throw a strike to them than because they have a great eye i m not sure i used to think this was true but more and more i m becoming convinced that it s the other way around among players with the physical ability to hit the ball real hard the patient ones are the ones who get the chance to do it a lot let s break down the four basic categories of hitter according to whether they are power threats and whether they walk a lot power no power patient frank thomas brett butler barry bonds ozzie smith mark mcgwire craig grebeck babe ruth miller huggins ted williams billy hamilton rickey henderson eddie joost joe morgan mike hargrove impatient ernie banks ozzie guillen dave kingman shawon dunston joe carter andres thomas george bell jose lind kirby puckett devon white etc as far as i can tell all the categories are full it really looks like the two are independent nobody could possibly be afraid of craig grebeck at the plate and yet he walks quite a lot part of that undoubtedly is being small of stature but surely major league pitchers can hit that sort of target at least times out of randy milligan is an even better example he s only shown noticeable power for one partial season but he walks all over the place despite his huge strike zone david m tate dtate pitt edu greetings sir with bat not quick member iie orsa tims sabr hands not soft eye not discerning and in denver they call you a slugger the big catullus galarraga and compare you to my own mattingly
