Clipping:Sacrifice doctrine; sabermetrics
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
 |
| Add a Clipping |
| Date | Saturday, September 27, 1890 |
|---|---|
| Text | [from W. I. Harris's column] ... There are several things to be borne in mind when considering when a sacrifice hit will count or whether there will be a chance for it to count. The average player seldom gets about .250 in the averages. This means that he makes a base hit about once in four times at bat. The very best men, whose figures ran from .300 and upward,w ill not hit safe once in three times at bat, while a large majority of the player will not average much better than one in five times at bat. Now, there are some players that seldom ever fail in an attempt to sacrifice, and the majority of them can do so four times out of five. If these statements are correct, and I do not think that any one will deny them, it is obvious then that the chances of a successful sacrifice are about four times as good as the chances of making a base hit. In a close game—by which I mean a pitchers' contest—one run will sometimes win, and three or four are pretty sure to do so. It is therefore of the greatest importance that the ice should be broken, for a team with one run to the good finds it much easier to score than the team which has no runs at all. If there is a man on first and no one out, it often happens that a skillful sacrifice hit will send the runner to third. If the batsman hits the ball toward right field, a slow one, just as the runner on first starts to steal second, the runner nearly always reaches third, if the team has the proper signs and every man is working “one for all and all for one.” Then all that is necessary is a fly to the outfield or a slow hit to the infield to score a run or a base hit. Team work pays and sacrifice hitting is the acme of team work. There are times, however, when sacrificing is the height of absurdity. For instance, in a game where the other fellows are four or five runs ahead in the seventh inning about the only way to win is to bat out some runs. Of course, if the other side is five ahead and your side bats out a couple of runs and the weak hitters are up and it is possible to get a third run in the inning by sacrificing, why the attempt should be made. If a batsman makes a two-base hit two sacrifices will score the run and they should always be made, no matter who is at the bat, unless it is during the latter part of a game,w hen one run is of no value. With one out a runner on second and a good hitter at the plate let him hit it out if he can. I do not believe in ever sacrificing a man to third base when there is one man out unless the base-runner is notoriously slow and it is a fact that he cannot score from second base on anything less than a two-base hit. In such a case it is sometimes advisable to sacrifice, but even then it depends very much upon who the batter may be. |
| Source | Sporting Life |
| Tags | |
| Warning | |
| Comment | Edit with form to add a comment |
| Query | Edit with form to add a query |
| Submitted by | Richard Hershberger |
| Origin | Initial Hershberger Clippings |
Comments
<comments voting="Plus" />