Strikeouts are killing baseball

Back during the 1981 strike, they had a college all-star game at Fenway. Watched it with then-Sox manager Ralph Houk. He watched a liner off an aluminum bat and said "if we used those we'd be burying six third basemen a season."

 

You're supposed to have him on blast!

 

I know. It alerted me that someone responded to my post and I bit. I'm going to hate myself in the morning.

 

I see your point there, but don't you see the potential for use of the data by others to impugn Koufax?

 

Bob Feller's Famous Motorcycle Test | HuffPost

There is also the Bob Feller and motorcycle test.

 

Please note that I let that pass and focused on the topic. YF simply couldn't manage to offer the same courtesy.

 

So what?

 

I think I'd crap myself to see that coming at my generation direction.

 

Many baseball fans love to debate who is the best among players from different eras. I'm not saying you don't want the data if you can get it, but I do think some would misuse it or at least fail to understand the true difference among players in those different time periods.

 

John Kruk agrees with you.

 

This is like arguing that we shouldn't time track or swimming events because of the chance that some people may not then appreciate the greatness of a Jesse Owens or Mark Spitz.

 

Well, people already do that anyway; there's no way to stop it.

I've read entirely serious pieces maintaining that Walter Johnson probably rarely broke 90 mph with his fastball.

The limited film footage we have of him actually pitching in game action was shot at irregular film speeds; corrected as accurately as possible it appears the Big Train may have only hit the low nineties.

Yet for 40 years it was pretty much an article of faith that he was the fastest pitcher ever, probably up to Feller.