re hbp bb big cat in article blue cis pitt edu dtate pitt edu david m tate writes kubey sgi com ken kubey said 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 okay i think we all agree that singles hitters should take a strike or two and try to get on base any way they can so the no power impatient guys have no excuse the no power patient guys are doing the right thing now the impatient power guys how could you leave out the big cat would these guys have a better slugging percentage if they took more pitches perhaps but i doubt it if you tell joe carter to go up there and take a few pitches he will draw more walks but he also won t hit as many frozen ropes into the bleachers because he is more likely to hold back on a pitch that he used to drive the patient power guys joe morgan had a small strike zone and rickey henderson has a strike zone the size of hitler s heart so they get their walks based on the small zone look at the other guys thomas bonds mcgwire ruth and williams wow a lot of pitchers would rather nibble at the corners and maybe walk these guys that to throw a clear strike to them the pitchers would do better in my opinion by just coming after them with a good fastball for a strike on the first pitch but pitchers would rather nibble go or and then get hurt ken kubey kubey wpd sgi com
