Arena Baseball or Why Is It Offensive?
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by user Harold Friend LouGehrig
Think you're watching the same you or your mother watched twenty years ago? Guess again. We are in the era of Arena Baseball, the era of not the home run, but the era of ANY run. Just score. Fans love offense, so let's give them what they want. You want a lot of runs? You'll get a lot of runs. But there was a time when the game had a fine balance between offense and defense.
Let's go back about twenty one years to 1986, when the Mets were a pretty good team, winning 108 games. Although they had some solid hitters, the Mets didn't win all those games by bludgeoning the opposition. Darryl Strawberry led the team with 27 home runs, a total that was nothing to be ashamed of. Only Mike Schmidt (37), Glenn Davis (31), Dave Parker (31), and Dale Murphy (29) hit more. Gary Carter hit 24 home runs, and no other Met hit as many as 20. In 2006, nineteen National Leaguers hit more than 27 home runs.
The 1986 Mets outfielders were Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Kevin Mitchell, Danny Heep, and for part of the season, George Foster. The pre-Philadelphia Dykstra hit 8 home runs, Wilson hit 9, Mitchell and Heep, in part time duty, hit 12 and 5 respectively and Foster hit 13, which adds up to a total of 74, including Strawberry's 27. The three outfielders who played the most games, Strawberry, Dykstra, and Wilson, hit 44 home runs. How would that go over today?
First baseman Keith Hernandez was an excellent hitter. In 1986, he hit 13 home runs, which tied George Foster for third on the team. Think Ryan Howard would be pleased if he hit 13 home runs this season? Second baseman Wally Backman was one of the Mets' sparkplugs that year. He batted .320 but hit all of 1 home run. How many teams in 2007 would be happy with that? Maybe teams such as last season's World Champion Cardinals, whose own sparkplug, shortstop David Eckstein, blasted 2 home runs, as did their second baseman, Aaron Miles, but that's about it. We want power from everyone. Mets' third baseman and one of the team leaders, third baseman Ray Knight, hit 11 home runs, while shortstop Rafael Santana, equaled Backman's 1 home run. By May 8, 2007, Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez has 15 home runs, or 4 more than Ray Knight hit the entire season. Think you're watching the same game?
The 1986 Mets won because the 1986 Mets had pitching. The least effective among their five starters was Rick Aguilera, who was the ONLY starter to pitch FEWER than 200 innings. Simple arithmetic reveals that the Mets had four starters with at least 200 innings. The best was probably Bob Ojeda, who led the team with 18 wins, pitched 217 1/3 innings, and had a 2.57 ERA. Dwight Gooden, who might have become the greatest pitcher of all time instead of the greatest disappointment of all time, won 17, worked 250 innings, and had a 2.84 ERA. Ron Darling won 15 and pitched 237 innings with a 2.81 ERA. Sid Fernandez won 16 games, pitched 204 2/3 innings, but had a "high" 3.52 ERA. To gain a little perspective, something which is needed badly, potential savior Roger Clemens' LOWEST ERA as a Yankee was 3.51. Think it's the same game?
Today, fans are constantly reminded that the Designated Hitter has made American League lineups tougher than National League lineups. We are also told that National League pitchers have "soft spots" when they face the eighth and ninth batters, which is a valid point with respect to most ninth place batters, but why should the number eight batters in one league be any better or worse than number eight batters in the other league? There also are some interesting facts about the offense provided by the Designated Hitter.
The 1976 Yankees won the Eastern Division title by 10 1/2 games and went on to win the pennant before being crushed by the National League's Big Red Machine Cincinnati Reds. WITH the Designated Hitter, the 1976 Yankees scored 730 runs. WITHOUT the Designated Hitter, the Reds scored 857 runs. The Yankees top home run hitter was Graig Nettles with 32. No other Yankee hit as many as 20 home runs. Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss, and Oscar Gamble each hit 17, and Roy White hit 14. The Yankees' Designated Hitter was primarily Carlos May, who, in 71 games, hit 3 home runs. Not exactly David Ortiz.
In 1976, American League teams averaged 4.01 runs a game. National League teams averaged 3.98. So, my friends, how does one explain why in 2006, American League teams averaged 4.97 runs a game and National League teams averaged 4.76 runs a game if the Designated Hitter provides so much offense? The key is that BOTH leagues are scoring more, but the DIFFERENCE between the leagues in run scores is not great. One fifth of a run a game a World Champion does not make. Smaller ball parks, a shrunken strike zone, a livelier baseball, and perhaps something else that must not be mentioned have all contributed to Arena Baseball. Fans want it, the baseball cartel has never been more successful in providing it, and it is the only baseball that we have -- or will ever have again.
References:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYM/1986.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_1986.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL_1976.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL_2006.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL_2006.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1976.shtml
