A landmark in baseball occurred this year: 2008 was the first year since 1989 that the American League had zero players reach the 40 home run mark. Miguel Cabrera hit the most, a paltry 37 for the hapless Detroit Tigers. Incredibly, most of the elite power hitters in the game reside in the Junior Circuit, including Alex Rodriguez, Justin Morneau, Jermaine Dye, and the resurgent Josh Hamilton. Last year’s big surprise Carlos Pena hit fifteen fewer long balls than he did in 2007.
The National League didn’t fair much better, only low average sluggers Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn were able to reach forty home runs. Overall, power numbers were way down, perhaps only slightly attributable to the crackdown on steroids and big sluggers struggling at the plate.
This shift away from home runs may be part of a new mentality in baseball. Managers are rediscovering “small ball”, in which hitters focus on singles and doubles to drive in runners. For this approach to work, top table setters need to get on base and take advantage of a running game. Speed kills.
The home run may be a quick and flashy way to get runs up on the board, but this strategy does not succeed like manufacturing runs by advancing runners through base hits, sacrifice flies, sacrifice bunts, and stolen bases. This traditional form of offense had taken a back seat to line-ups rammed with slow power hitters, a strategy that teams like the New York Yankees tend to favor.
This year, the Yankees seemed old and slow, while a new guard of players put pressure on opposing teams because of their ability to move around the base paths. Speed is a great weapon for psyching out opposing pitchers who must be able to check the runner. This can result in pitchers making mistakes, allowing versatile hitters to take advantage.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a prime example. They had three players, B.J Upton, Carl Crawford, and Jason Bartlett with twenty steals or more, a rarity in the American League. These base-running threats opened things up for Tampa Bay’s mashers Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena.
Rookie Longoria hit only 27 big flies, but every homer was significant, stealing eight bases to boot. The New York Yankees, supposedly a team of sluggers, hit exactly the same number of home runs as the Rays. The Yankees and Rays both hit 180 dingers, but the Rays had 24 more stolen bases, perhaps why the team won eight more games than the Yankees.
Another team that featured speed was the Los Angeles Angels, led by Chone Figgins with 34 steals, and Torii Hunter with 19, to go along with his 21 home runs. The Angels finished second in the American League in steals and won 100 games, despite none of their players accumulating 100 RBIs.
The Boston Red Sox, traditionally considered a slow team, finished last in the league in stolen bases in 2006. But this year, the Red Sox were third in the American League in stolen bases, topped by Jacoby Ellsbury, who led the league with 50. Coco Crisp had 20 steals, and Dustin Pedroia, who is by no means the fastest runner, had 20 steals and was caught stealing only once.
National League pennant winners Philadelphia Phillies also featured three players with twenty or more steals: Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth, all of whom hit more than ten home runs and contributed to a balanced attack. Early season MVP power hitter Chase Utley, chipped in with fourteen stolen bases.
Having speedy players and good base runners makes teams far better overall. The threat of intelligent base runners allows managers to use riskier plays like the suicide squeeze, in which a runner from third breaks for home on a bunt, rather than solely relying on home runs. The home run works in conjunction with small ball to create balanced offenses. In baseball all facets of the offense should be employed, and not just the long ball that chicks dig.
