Quote:
Originally Posted by Pirates
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the team that scored first in 2009 won 66.4 percent of the games played. Since 2000, it falls into a 64-67 percent win ratio.
Could not find anything more current. It helps if you can put the ball in play.
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Your first paragraph does not support your second one in any way. Yes, scoring first gives a better chance of winning, but that applies whether you had 2 Ks, 1 BB and a HR in the inning, or whether you blooped a single, stole second, moved the runner to third by hitting behind him and then scored him on a sac fly.
The idea of moving towards power and accepting the additional strikeouts is about the best way to score runs. It is all about efficiency and the data seems to show that waiting for home runs is more efficient than small ball, station to station. I wish it wasn't true.
I much prefer seeing fielders running after batted balls, runners stealing bases, managers calling for the hit and run, batters choking up with 2 strikes on them. I hate seeing games where the primary action is batters walking back to the dugout or trotting slowly around the bases while fielders might as well be looking for rocks to kick around like a 5 year old playing T-ball. Unfortunately, I think the numbers bear out that a more boring game is more efficient.