The 2018 Dinger Whiff Derby Winner - Jose Ramirez 76

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Aaron Judge struck out 8 times yesterday in a doubleheader, I believe a new major league record. That is just brutal.

Joe DiMaggio once struck out 13 times in a SEASON. Remarkable.

[barrysloate]

I know Peter. There was a time when players took pride in making contact and not striking out. Today, they don't even care. They can strike out 150 times a season as long as they are still otherwise productive. It is among the most dramatic ways the game has changed.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It looks to me like the OP has lost interest in his own thread.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It looks to me like the OP has lost interest in his own thread.

Hardly.

Monthly updates during the dawg days of summer seem sufficient.

Sabermetric scholars and riff raff will keep this important thread alive without my constant prodding.

[Peter_Spaeth]

So who's ahead? Riff raff want to know.

[frankbmd]

Ramirez now leads Betts 45 to 43.

Judge and Stanton remain neck and neck at -19 and -24.

I think someone will strikeout 250 times this season.

Post #1 has been updated.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Joe DiMaggio once struck out 13 times in a SEASON. Remarkable.

IMO, much too much is made about how few strikeouts there were in previous eras or by previous hitters.

The approach to hitting, to pitching and to the game are all very different.

ONLY in the most general examination are those statistics in anyway comparable.

[Peter_Spaeth]

What's different that it results in more strikeouts? We're not talking the deadball era in comparison, we're talking the 1930s in DiMaggio's case. One year he hit 46 HR and fanned 37 times, not like he wasn't trying to drive the ball.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

What's different that it results in more strikeouts?

You're Kidding?

Where do I start?

1) with the advent of regular relief pitching, starters no longer pace themselves, and can, instead, use more power pitches later in their five or six innings...and conservatively 95% of them throw 95MPH with some regularlarity. Even their breaking pitches are faster than previous era's fastballs.

2.) Those same starters are replaced by specialized relievers tasked to face only three or even one batter...with the same all-out approach as the starters. And 95% of them also throw 95MPH regularly with several now topping triple-digits.

3.) George H. Ruth's contribution's to the game has taken over almost completely as the one true goal of every hitter. In that effort, strikeouts are now accepted, in bunches, as long as some eventually contact is the result. The best Contracts are now created at the sweet spot, not at the end of the bat.

4.) The advent of drastic defensive shifts used with full knowledge of the all-or-nothing hitting approach where hitters are, almost to a man, totally predictable. Gone are the days when hitters hit against the shift. Gone are those trying to be Tony Gwynn (mister 5.5) with all instead emulating the other San Diego native's approach in the 1948 World Series.


5.) Stadium walls are created to encourage all of this, being made just high enough to allow for heroic defensive efforts, while being close enough to allow many 'cheapies'.

6.) Sports channels' highlight reels are almost always headed by continuous homerun replays.

Peter- Is that enough?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Having checked the stats, home run totals are way up overall despite the much tougher pitching you reference. So I am thinking maybe the biggest factor is that batters are swinging for the fences much more and accordingly striking out more.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Having checked the stats, home run totals are way up overall despite the much tougher pitching you reference. So I am thinking maybe the biggest factor is that batters are swinging for the fences much more and accordingly striking out more.

During DiMaggio's 13 seasons there were only 19 100 strikeout seasons (3 by brother Vince).

In the last 10 seasons (2008 when Mark Reynolds set the record with 223 through last season), there have been 53 175 strikeout seasons; 20 of which were 195 or more; 10 with 200 or more.

During DiMaggio's career, 78 strikeouts would get you in the top 10 EVERY season, while Joey Gallo already has 85 this season.

What I'm trying to illustrate is that not only are strikeouts much more common these days, they really weren't that many during DiMaggio's career and for a great hitter to have only 13 strikeouts in a full season, which outstanding, wasn't THAT outstanding given the state of the game back then. It would be comparable to maybe 60-75 strikeouts today.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

During DiMaggio's 13 seasons there were only 19 100 strikeout seasons (3 by brother Vince).

In the last 10 seasons (2008 when Mark Reynolds set the record with 223 through last season), there have been 53 175 strikeout seasons; 20 of which were 195 or more; 10 with 200 or more.

During DiMaggio's career, 78 strikeouts would get you in the top 10 EVERY season, while Joey Gallo already has 85 this season.

What I'm trying to illustrate is that not only are strikeouts much more common these days, they really weren't that many during DiMaggio's career and for a great hitter to have only 13 strikeouts in a full season, which outstanding, wasn't THAT outstanding given the state of the game back then. It would be comparable to maybe 60-75 strikeouts today.

Contacting the baseball with a bat requires a modicum of talent regardless of the era. DiMaggio should not be belittled.

When Judge hits 100 homeruns and strikes out 500 times, you will be watching homerun derby, not baseball.