Preferring pitching duels
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
I watch a lot of baseball throughout a calendar year. In a single summer, I've been known to cover Little League all the way up to the Cincinnati Reds in a given week, and I prefer it that way.
No matter what level of the sport I watch on a given day, I have come to this conclusion … there is no better type of baseball than a good pitchers' duel.
For those who say low-scoring 2-1 games are boring, my response is this … you aren't looking for the right things.
Two-to-one baseball scores can be as exciting as 15-14 scores, but it takes more work to enjoy the lower-scoring games for some, as it does for me to enjoy a game that has five or six total pitchers with double-digit runs and hits … and even errors.
[[In-content Ad]]This past weekend was one of those games where Whiteoak beat Hillsboro by a 2-1 score, and those are the type of games I live to write about.
In my weekly Not off the Press column this past Monday, I wrote: "The pitching by Whiteoak's Luke Taggert was impressive. He had the Indians swinging at the first pitch, and many of his outs were ground ball outs … in fact, 11 of the 21 outs were ground ball outs. Six were by fly ball/pop up, three were strikeouts and one was a force out at third base."
That is the type of baseball I enjoy, and to convince others, here are some ways to enjoy a low-scoring baseball game, no matter the level of the sport.
- Fewer errors
I can't stand too many errors in a game. Sure, sometimes they happen, no big deal, but when a game has three or more errors in seven innings … yeah, sometimes I get frustrated. More than likely, though, the fewer errors, the better the pitchers' duel and the lower my blood pressure.
- Strategy at the plate
When the scores of both teams are in double digits, more than likely not much strategy goes into the game. Usually, it's just hit the ball and go from there. I like home runs as much as the next guy, sparingly, and even in pitchers’ duels they can happen; but watching coaches trying to decide when to steal a base, when to attempt a sacrifice bunt or a suicide squeeze, seeing a perfectly placed fly ball… that doesn't happen much in a slugfest.
- Strategy on the mound
Usually if there are a lot of runs, that means the pitching is bad – or, the pitching could be good, and the fielding could be horrendous.
It's always neat to see what pitch a pitcher will go with depending on the situation. In a close game, every pitch is important. Like I saw this past weekend during the aforementioned Whiteoak and Hillsboro baseball game … every pitch was important. When a final score is 2-1 and a one-hitter is thrown, any fan of the game leaves knowing they saw something special.
- Home runs are boring
Like greasy food, home runs in moderation are good for the soul, but when there are too many home runs, as with too much grease … I get a little sick. In high school baseball, I rarely see a home run, but those are always fun to see because of the rarity; in softball I've seen more this year than in most years; but the home runs I'm talking about are MLB. When I watch MLB games, I want hits-and-runs and stolen bases … if there was a commercial for me by Nike, it would say: "Stephen Doesn't Dig The Long Ball."
If those four reasons haven't brought you to the good side, let me get one last closing argument into the column.
What I've enjoyed about MLB in recent years is how the the home run numbers are down overall, meaning two things: A: The steroid era is all but dead; and B: There is more strategy in the game (or less power). The late '90s and early 2000s pretty much ruined me on monster numbers and the home run in mass amounts. Like I've stated earlier … home runs in moderation are fine, but five or more combined in one game (unless it's one player, that's OK) takes away from all that I love about baseball.
Even though my all-time favorite movie character Crash Davis in "Bull Durham" said strikeouts are boring, that is true to an extent, but I'd rather have a great pitching day, mixed with a couple 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 double plays, over a home run derby any day of the week.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com.
No matter what level of the sport I watch on a given day, I have come to this conclusion … there is no better type of baseball than a good pitchers' duel.
For those who say low-scoring 2-1 games are boring, my response is this … you aren't looking for the right things.
Two-to-one baseball scores can be as exciting as 15-14 scores, but it takes more work to enjoy the lower-scoring games for some, as it does for me to enjoy a game that has five or six total pitchers with double-digit runs and hits … and even errors.
[[In-content Ad]]This past weekend was one of those games where Whiteoak beat Hillsboro by a 2-1 score, and those are the type of games I live to write about.
In my weekly Not off the Press column this past Monday, I wrote: "The pitching by Whiteoak's Luke Taggert was impressive. He had the Indians swinging at the first pitch, and many of his outs were ground ball outs … in fact, 11 of the 21 outs were ground ball outs. Six were by fly ball/pop up, three were strikeouts and one was a force out at third base."
That is the type of baseball I enjoy, and to convince others, here are some ways to enjoy a low-scoring baseball game, no matter the level of the sport.
- Fewer errors
I can't stand too many errors in a game. Sure, sometimes they happen, no big deal, but when a game has three or more errors in seven innings … yeah, sometimes I get frustrated. More than likely, though, the fewer errors, the better the pitchers' duel and the lower my blood pressure.
- Strategy at the plate
When the scores of both teams are in double digits, more than likely not much strategy goes into the game. Usually, it's just hit the ball and go from there. I like home runs as much as the next guy, sparingly, and even in pitchers’ duels they can happen; but watching coaches trying to decide when to steal a base, when to attempt a sacrifice bunt or a suicide squeeze, seeing a perfectly placed fly ball… that doesn't happen much in a slugfest.
- Strategy on the mound
Usually if there are a lot of runs, that means the pitching is bad – or, the pitching could be good, and the fielding could be horrendous.
It's always neat to see what pitch a pitcher will go with depending on the situation. In a close game, every pitch is important. Like I saw this past weekend during the aforementioned Whiteoak and Hillsboro baseball game … every pitch was important. When a final score is 2-1 and a one-hitter is thrown, any fan of the game leaves knowing they saw something special.
- Home runs are boring
Like greasy food, home runs in moderation are good for the soul, but when there are too many home runs, as with too much grease … I get a little sick. In high school baseball, I rarely see a home run, but those are always fun to see because of the rarity; in softball I've seen more this year than in most years; but the home runs I'm talking about are MLB. When I watch MLB games, I want hits-and-runs and stolen bases … if there was a commercial for me by Nike, it would say: "Stephen Doesn't Dig The Long Ball."
If those four reasons haven't brought you to the good side, let me get one last closing argument into the column.
What I've enjoyed about MLB in recent years is how the the home run numbers are down overall, meaning two things: A: The steroid era is all but dead; and B: There is more strategy in the game (or less power). The late '90s and early 2000s pretty much ruined me on monster numbers and the home run in mass amounts. Like I've stated earlier … home runs in moderation are fine, but five or more combined in one game (unless it's one player, that's OK) takes away from all that I love about baseball.
Even though my all-time favorite movie character Crash Davis in "Bull Durham" said strikeouts are boring, that is true to an extent, but I'd rather have a great pitching day, mixed with a couple 6-4-3 or 4-6-3 double plays, over a home run derby any day of the week.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com.