small ball
Ty Cobb, enormous prick that he was, pretty much invented the modern game of baseball. Then came Babe Ruth, an enormous prick of a different kind, who changed everything. Their legacies have been slugging it out ever since. Generally, Ruth's wins.
Not an overly talented athelete, Cobb played an aggressive game based on speed and hustle. Put the ball in play, and run like hell. Once on base, steal. Challenge the defense. Distract the pitcher. Cobb played small ball. And he cheated.
First basemen were sometimes afraid to keep their foot on the bag long enough to record an out for fear of getting Cobb's spikes, sharped with a file before each game, in the calf. Second basemen and shortstops faced those same spikes in the face if they dared lay a tag on him as he slid into the bag on a steal. That Cobb's career batting average of .366 still leads the Major Leagues, and that he's still fourth all-time in stolen bases owes a little to the fact that that shit don't fly anymore in the Majors. But that doesn't change his legacy.
Babe Ruth, on the other hand, had loads of talent. A dominanting pitcher early in his career, his explosive bat became too valuable to his managers to have him in the lineup only once every four days. In the last fifteen years of his career, Ruth only pitched in five games. Meanwhile, he racked up homeruns like no other player before him.
Before Ruth, the homerun was rare. Ruth himself hit more in one season than most other teams before him. Other ballclubs started looking for their own sluggers. The homerun ingrained itself in baseball's culture, and the Cobb-style small game was slowly pushed aside. Too bad. Except for the cheating.
The Twins head into Chicago tonight for a four game stand against the Central Division leading White Sox. Sitting in second place two and half games behind the Sox, if they take all four, they'll lead Chicago by half a game. If they lose all four, they'll be six and half behind Chicago, and probably in third place behind Cleveland. The Twins are one of the few teams left that play small ball. Sluggers are expensive and the Twins are famously frugal. Their pitching is too weak for them to do anything in the playoffs this year if they make it, but its nice to see a team in contention that doesn't rely on homeruns to be there.
Maybe next year they'll have pitching.
Not an overly talented athelete, Cobb played an aggressive game based on speed and hustle. Put the ball in play, and run like hell. Once on base, steal. Challenge the defense. Distract the pitcher. Cobb played small ball. And he cheated.
First basemen were sometimes afraid to keep their foot on the bag long enough to record an out for fear of getting Cobb's spikes, sharped with a file before each game, in the calf. Second basemen and shortstops faced those same spikes in the face if they dared lay a tag on him as he slid into the bag on a steal. That Cobb's career batting average of .366 still leads the Major Leagues, and that he's still fourth all-time in stolen bases owes a little to the fact that that shit don't fly anymore in the Majors. But that doesn't change his legacy.
Babe Ruth, on the other hand, had loads of talent. A dominanting pitcher early in his career, his explosive bat became too valuable to his managers to have him in the lineup only once every four days. In the last fifteen years of his career, Ruth only pitched in five games. Meanwhile, he racked up homeruns like no other player before him.
Before Ruth, the homerun was rare. Ruth himself hit more in one season than most other teams before him. Other ballclubs started looking for their own sluggers. The homerun ingrained itself in baseball's culture, and the Cobb-style small game was slowly pushed aside. Too bad. Except for the cheating.
The Twins head into Chicago tonight for a four game stand against the Central Division leading White Sox. Sitting in second place two and half games behind the Sox, if they take all four, they'll lead Chicago by half a game. If they lose all four, they'll be six and half behind Chicago, and probably in third place behind Cleveland. The Twins are one of the few teams left that play small ball. Sluggers are expensive and the Twins are famously frugal. Their pitching is too weak for them to do anything in the playoffs this year if they make it, but its nice to see a team in contention that doesn't rely on homeruns to be there.
Maybe next year they'll have pitching.
posted by poverty at 10:21 AM
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