The Eyes of Texas are Upon You
In case you haven't heard, my alma mater won the College World Series this weekend. They won it with good pitching, great defense, and aggressive (even doctrinal) adherence to the principles of Small Ball. Good job, guys.
Their application of Small Ball reminds me that there's an article over on the Hardball Times that's worth reading. The interesting part is a discussion of the effects of Ozzie Guillen's strategy as the manager of the White Sox. The author isn't fully committed to this interpretation (it's not even half way through the season), but his current working hypothesis is that, although you'll score fewer runs overall with Small Ball, you'll score a more consistent number of runs per game, and in a range that will give your pitchers the opportunity to win.
It'll be interesting to watch. I'm hoping Studes is right, because it's a more exciting brand of baseball.
Finally, I'm thinking that our buddy Phil Garner over in Houston is an adherent of the same philosophy. The problem is that the Astros don't execute as well as the White Sox -- check out how many times they've been caught stealing so far this year. Given their tear of late, though, they might be getting it. (To be fair, the team is stealing at a 67% clip as a whole. It's just Everett and Ensberg who are dragging the rate down.)
Their application of Small Ball reminds me that there's an article over on the Hardball Times that's worth reading. The interesting part is a discussion of the effects of Ozzie Guillen's strategy as the manager of the White Sox. The author isn't fully committed to this interpretation (it's not even half way through the season), but his current working hypothesis is that, although you'll score fewer runs overall with Small Ball, you'll score a more consistent number of runs per game, and in a range that will give your pitchers the opportunity to win.
It'll be interesting to watch. I'm hoping Studes is right, because it's a more exciting brand of baseball.
Finally, I'm thinking that our buddy Phil Garner over in Houston is an adherent of the same philosophy. The problem is that the Astros don't execute as well as the White Sox -- check out how many times they've been caught stealing so far this year. Given their tear of late, though, they might be getting it. (To be fair, the team is stealing at a 67% clip as a whole. It's just Everett and Ensberg who are dragging the rate down.)