|
I so often see people talk about a good hitter as somone with a high batting average which is really not what is important.
What is important is situational hitting. Because even a high average hitter makes an out more often than he gets a hit then what matters is how is the team affected by the type of out a batter makes.
I believe this will show up as the difference between having someone like Jim Edmonds in the line up as opposed to Felix Pie. Don't get me wrong, as Pie matures I do believe he will be an influential ballplayer some day. He is not right now
Another guy that I touted several years ago that everyone said was a nobody and I thought would have a good career was Gary Matthews jr, I was laughed off of a radio show for touting this guy. He seems to have had a postive career and not a huge number guy.
This, my friends, is what we as ballplayers refer to as a clutch hitter/ballplayer. Someone who makes a difference without getting a hit and makes the right play in the right situation. These things often do not show in the box score, but, makes a big difference to the success or not of your team. Great example to the negative side of the coin, Corey Patterson, never seemed to come through when you needed him to.
This 2008 Cubs team has been showing these talents to me more often than ever before and that is paramount to the success this team is having as opposed to what Cubs teams of the past would do. This also seems to have been what the Cardinal teams always excell at and why, even w/o looking great on paper that the Cardinal teams seem to always be in the hunt.
Lemme hear ya,...a 1 a2,...
Go Cubs Go
|
