Good news (great, actually) and bad news (not that bad, really)
OK, thanks to Daily News blog czars Josh Kleinbaum and Armando Hernandez, who were able to accommodate my request almost immediately, your comments will now be posted as soon as you send them in, without my having to approve and post them. (That's the good/great news). This should allow for a lot more good old-fashioned baseball arguments between you, the loyal readers -- although I'm not abandoning you, and as I said earlier, I WILL respond most of the time when you ask me a direct question. The catch is, you will have to create a log-in, and use it every time, in order to make this happen (that's the bad-but-not-that-bad news). It's just an extra step, and Josh tells me it's VERY self-explanatory. ... I know you all probably get tired of me beating this horse, but that fourth inning by the Marlins against Hendrickson tonight was a perfect illustration of the value of patient hitters working counts. No, the Marlins didn't score. No, they didn't get a single hit. Yes, they left the bases loaded. But they made Hendrickson, who had thrown just 46 pitches through the first three innings, throw 36 in THAT INNING ALONE. And they drew three walks. As a result, Hendrickson was basically done by the fifth, when the Marlins exploded for four runs. More importantly, it forced Grady to go to his pen with two outs in the fifth, and he had to use four different relievers at a time when the Dodgers were still nine days away from their next off-day. No wonder he keeps predicting they'll need a 12th pitcher sometime between now and then. Granted, that inning was more about Hendrickson not throwing his curveball and the Marlins laying off his cutter. And the fact the Fish are on pace to break the 2002 Brewers' all-time strikeout record suggests they are anything but savvy, work-the-count kind of hitters. But even if they made Hendrickson throw all those pitches by accident, it STILL underscores my point. Feel free to disagree, and feel free to post those disagreements -- but you'll have to log in to do it. ... That perfectly sunny day gave way to what looked like fog that settled into the stadium and stayed there the whole game. Turns out it was smoke, from a forest fire in the nearby Everglades. ``It was kind of weird, because you couldn't see looking in from the outfield,'' Gonzo said. ``It looked like a San Francisco fog kind of day, or one of those early mornings like we have in California.'' ... Good night, all.
Tony Jackson is in his fourth season covering the Dodgers for the 
Comments
Nice to see Billingsley bounce back after the somewhat rough outing in Atlanta. I'd still much rather see him starting, but at least he's improved his K/9 rates while pitching in the pen (10.5 versus 5.9 last year).
Posted by: Marcel | May 8, 2007 9:23 PM
Mangerial error in the fifth also. If you're going to lift Hendrickson for Tsao anyway, just pitch to Olivo. Don't give him an IBB and let Borchard hit lefty, where he is a significantly better hitter.
Saw a lot of chatter about whether or not to pitch to Cabrera in the ninth; would have been an incredibly gutsy move to IBB him to push the winning run to third with only one out. Plus, Josh Willingham is a pretty good hitter.
Posted by: El Lay Dave | May 8, 2007 9:25 PM
You're absolutely right about the importance of working the count. But for the Dodgers to go that direction, they have to value that type of hitter. They have to say to themselves (and in turn to the public) that selectivity matters, that walks matter, that on-base percentage is more important than batting average. That patience can be a virtue.
And the media and fans have to value those types of hitters, instead of deriding them as being too passive. In recent years, the Dodgers have had hitters who made the pitcher work, and some observers have not only ignored those virtues, they've slammed them.
Yes, occasionally it could mean taking a called strike three. But it also doesn't mean taking every pitch and never swinging. Given that there are, as you point out, considerable dividends to be had with more patience, I hope that more people come to see this.
Posted by: Jon Weisman
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May 8, 2007 11:36 PM
"And the fact the Fish are on pace to break the 2002 Brewers' all-time strikeout record suggests they are anything but savvy, work-the-count kind of hitters."
This isn't necessarily true. The Marlins are currently in the top half of the majors (12th, I think) in walks. Taking lots of pitches would often result in at least some increase in strikeouts as well as walks, I would think. The top 5 teams in MLB in walks, and their current ranks in Ks:
1) Philly: 9th (in strikeouts)
2) Atlanta: 5th-t
3) Boston: 24th
4) Colorado: 7th-t
5) Cleveland: 5th-t
Boston's a bit of an outlier, but the other 4 teams are all in the top 10 in the majors in strikeouts.
Now, with that having been said, all of the teams 1-4 with the most Ks are either slightly above average at walking (1-Florida and 3-Washington, who are 12th and 11th in MLB respectively) or almost never walk (2-Tampa Bay and 4-Kansas City, who are 24th and 21st respectively).
Nevertheless, I think the idea that teams with lots of strikeouts are filled with "free-swingers" doesn't necessarily entirely hold water.
Posted by: Underbruin | May 9, 2007 12:59 AM
Great points, all. And I'm glad to see that the highly regarded Mr. Weisman has joined our dialogue. Welcome.
Posted by: tony jackson | May 9, 2007 12:45 PM