Still Americas Pastime

Most of you are probably scratching your head on this one.  Isn’t a walk the same thing as a base on balls?  Well, you’re right.

So why have two names for the same thing?

It comes down to how technical you want to be.

The term walk came about because a player is entitled to first base and can not be put out by the defense.  Therefore, he can take his time and walk down to first base.

The reason some people use the term base on balls (and the notation for a walk on a scorecard is “BB”) is because there are other ways to be awarded first base.

When a batter is hit by a pitch, he is awarded first base, and can therefore walk down to first.  Also, catcher’s interference will award the batter first base.  By calling a walk a base on balls, you clarify why the player can walk to first base.

The phrase “ducks on the pond” refers to having runners on base.  Some people use it to refer to a situation where there is only one runner on base, but the phrase isn’t “duck on the pond” so I say they’re wrong.

The term probably derived from duck hunters preferring to shot a duck on a pond than one flying (easier target).  A batter coming up with a runner (or runners) in scoring position will have an easier time of getting an RBI and just a runner on first or if the bases are empty.

“Ducks on the pond” was first used by the announcer Arch McDonald, who also first used the phrase “right down Broadway” and gave the great Joe DiMaggio his nickname, the Yankee Clipper.  Arch McDonald was a good old country boy from Arkansas and (I guess) at least familiar with duck hunting.  He announced for both the Washington Senators and the New York Yankees.

A Texas Leaguer is a hit that lands between the infielders and the outfielders.  It’s synonymous with the terms “bloop hit” or “blooper” (not the kind of blooper that usually end up on the sports shows).

A Texas Leaguer IS a soft fly ball that just finds the area between the infielder going out and the outfielder coming in.  A Texas Leaguer IS NOT a line drive or other type of well hit ball.

There are a number of theories about how the term came about.  Here are a few I found searching:

1. A player got seven straight bloop hits in a row to start his Texas League career.
2. Three Texas Leaguers were called up and had key bloop hits in a Major League game.
3. People noticed that the Gulf Stream made fly balls die in front of outfielders in Texas stadiums.
4. The Texas League used to have huge outfields so the fielders had to play deep to prevent balls from going over their head.

The Texas League is a collection of eight minor league teams in Texas (4), Arkansas (2), Oklahoma (1), and Missouri (1).  The teams are Class AA ball teams, 2 steps away from the Major Leagues.

A seeing-eye hit or seeing-eye single is a hit that slowly rolls through the infield.  They are hits that look perfectly placed and just make it out of the infield.

There are a few requirements that need to be met for a seeing-eye hit. 

First, it has to be a hit.  Too obvious you say?  Well the next on is a little less obvious.

Second, it has to be a ground ball that rolls into the outfield.  Bunts and balls that die in the infield for a hit are not seeing-eye hits.

Third, to the best of my knowledge, the ball has to roll between two infielders (pitcher not included).  So a roller that goes between the third baseman and the shortstop is a seeing-eye hit, while one that rolls between the third baseman and the bag is not.

This is another baseball term that is becoming extinct.  In my opinion it’s because most people don’t understand what it means.  Also some people think it is offensive, because many people believe it is an allusion a seeing-eye dog (and it might be, I’m not sure of it’s origin).

However, I always thought that it was called a seeing-eye hit because the ball was rolling so slowly, it would need eyes to avoid the fielders.

Related to the save, the hold is another statistic that relievers hunger for.  Because it is not an official MLB statistic, there are a few different definitions of a hold.  This makes them confusing.  In fact, that’s part of the reason I made this post, so I’d know for sure what they were and how to earn them.

Here’s what made the most sense to me, and since it’s not an official statistic, what I say goes on this site.

1) The pitcher needs to qualify for a save.  To recap this means he entered in relief with his team in the lead and pitched at least 1/3 of an inning (with the tying run on base, at-bat, or on deck), 1 inning (if winning by 1-3 runs), or 3 innings (any lead).

2) The pitcher DOES NOT finish the game after this.  You can not earn a hold and a save in the same game.

This allows for some interesting situations. 

A pitcher can get a hold and a loss in the same game.  How?  Here’s one example

A pitcher (Reliever A) comes in to a game with the tying run on first, nobody out.  He gets the next batter to ground into a double play.  The next batter hits a double.  The batter after that hits a single.  With runners on the corners, the manager brings in Reliever B.  Reliever A has earned a save (at least 1/3 of an inning with the tying run on base).  Reliever B gives up a hit and both runners score.  Because the runners were Reliever A’s responsibility, he gets the loss.

More than one pitcher can earn a hold in a game.

This is different from the win, loss, and save, as only one of each of them is awarded per game.

The save is one of the sexiest stats in the game today.  Closers get paid millions of dollars to pitch for one inning.  And they don’t pitch every day, usually they only pitch when a save situation exists.

The save was first used as an official statistic during the 1969 season.  The save is a way to give credit to a pitcher for not relinquishing the lead he inherited when he entered the game.  To be eligible for a save a pitcher must come into the game to relieve another pitcher while his team has the lead, and he must finish the game.  Thus, only one save can be awarded per game.

There are three ways to record a save.  The most common is to pitch at least one inning when your team is winning by three runs or less.  When the closer comes into the game in the ninth to shut down the other team, this is the situation.

Another way to pick up a save is to pitch at least three innings.  In this situation, it doesn’t matter how much of a lead the team has.  But remember, a pitcher has to finish the game.  Also, if the pitcher is the winning pitcher of record, he is not eligible for a save.

The final way for a pitcher to record a save is to come into a ballgame when the tying run is on base, at-bat, or on deck.  It doesn’t matter if the pitcher only gets one out, he still gets a save.  Thus it’s possible to get a save on one pitch.

A Can of Corn is a fly ball that is an easy catch for the fielder.

This is one of the first weird baseball terms I ever heard.  You don’t hear it often anymore, and I think a large part of that is that the term is an anachronism.  All of the reports I’ve heard point toward this term coming about because of the old practice of grocers storing cans of corn on the top of the shelves.  They would use long poles to knock the cans off of the shelf and then catch the can in their hands.

Since catching a lazy fly ball is (or at least should be) easy, people started saying that it was as easy as catching a can of corn.  The term stuck and has been floating around ever since.  However, as I mentioned earlier, there aren’t many people who use it anymore.  This is probably a result of the combination that nobody knows why it came about and the situation that gave birth to the term is obsolete.

In my “Baseball Resume” post I talked about my abysmal AVG and my much better OBP.  Most of you probably know that AVG stands for batting average (sometime abbreviated BA).  Still, if you are new to the game, there’s nothing wrong with not knowing.  OBP stand for On Base Percentage.

These stats are very similar.  Both measure offensive consistency.  Both are measured out to the thousandth place (.000) and range from .000 (worst possible) to 1.000 (perfect).

There are a number of differences though.  AVG is determined by dividing the number of hits by the number of at-bats.  OBP is determined by dividing the number of times a player reaches base safely by the number of plate appearances.

Seems like same thing?  Almost, but not quite.  A plate appearance (PA or TPA for total plate appearances) is any time a player walks up the plate and either becomes a runner or makes an out.  There are a number of results where a plate appearance does not count as an at-bat: sacrifice bunt (SAC), sacrifice fly (SF), base on balls or walk (BB), and hit by pitch (HBP).  These distinctions are made to protect a batter’s average for sacrificing himself or for the inability of the pitcher to throw three balls over the plate.

There are two results that will hurt a players AVG but increase their OBP: error (E) or fielder’s choice (FC).  Both of these are results where it is judged the player should have been out, if the defense had not failed to make the play (E) or chose to make another play (FC).

Most players will have a higher OBP than AVG.  Where a great hitter has a batting average over .300, most teams want their leadoff hitter, whose main job is to get on base for other batters to drive him in, to have an OBP in the upper .300s or even .400+.

To show just how far apart the two stats can be, last season Chipper Jones lead the MLB with a .365 AVG and a .470 OBP.  The .105 difference was mainly to due to his 90 walks.

Note: Although I do not know of an instance in MLB history, it is technically possible for a player to have a higher AVG than OBP.  This would require the batter to have at least one hit, and more sacrifice bunts and/or sacrifice flies than walks, hit by pitches, fielder choices, and errors combined.  As you can guess, this is extremely unlikely.

Today marks the beginning of the serious part of the offseason’s Free Agency period.  After the end of the World Series, teams have a 15 day window to exclusively talk to their players who declare Free Agency.  While there are loopholes and strategies for circumventing that window, the bottom line is that until the 15 day window is over, the team the player ended last season with has an advantage to resign the free agent.  Starting today, all teams are able to negotiate with any free agent, and that leads us to today’s term: “Free Agent”

Free Agent: A player that has no contractual obligations to a team and therefore is eligible to negotiate with any team.

Players can become free agents by being undrafted in the amateur draft, being released by their team, or by having their current contract expire without renewing it.