Quote:
Originally Posted by Skipaway
The point is that the control is limited, so it only shows up barely when you try to detect it.
It's not that hard to see why the control is limited actually.
If we set up a stationary bat, how consistently can a pitcher hit certain part of the bat? And then we have to throw in the ability of the batter, and the guess made by the batter on the pitch.
It's not surprising that the pitcher only plays a small part in deciding how a ball is going to be hit. Doesn't it make intuitive sense that hitters control that much more than pitchers?
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This is my fundamental disagreement. I contend that pitchers have much more control over how well a ball is hit than you're stating. When you watch a good pitcher in action, while he gets his strike outs, the overwhelming majority of balls are put in play. They
do dictate how well balls are hit. It is beyond all reason to watch a game, see a pitcher fool a hitter on an offspeed pitch resulting in the batter lunging for the ball and popping it up, and then say the pitcher had very little control over how well the ball was hit.
Good hitters, the best hitters, rather than make outs on the pitcher's pitch foul them off and live to fight for another pitch and then pounce on the mistakes. Or, even when they are fooled by the pitch are able to either dial it up or wait back so they can still make good contact. We call those hitters Hall Of Famers. They are the elite hitters. But most players don't hit .300. The pitchers get those guys with the pitcher's pitch. There is a quote by Don Drysdale which shows up in OOTP. He said, "There's no way to pitch to a great hitter. If there was they'd all hit .220" So yes, batter skill is of course a factor. But to say pitcher skill is only a very little variable? No way. That's where you lose me. Those pitchers are in the HOF not just because they struck out another batter per 9 or walked one less than an average pitcher. They are there because they induced the outs when they needed them, and at least 2/3s of the time (assuming 1 k per inning which almost no starting pitcher was able to achieve) the ball was put in play. To repeat my earlier statement. they are not in the HOF on luck.