The link to send my joy suggestions isn't working, so Ill add them here.
Baseball joy: A batter who hits from a crouch, looking like he's ready to spring out from it and last a ball in the gap. Phillies rooking CF Justin Crawford, who excites me on so many silly levels, hits from such a crouch.
Everyday joy: Any friend who has their own buzzword or term, especially an old-fashioned one. I have a friend in work, for instance who's only 40 (I'm 62, hence my use of "only" in regard to that age) who says, "A-OK" when she gets what our mission is for that day. It's so hokey, especially coming out of the mouth of someone who's not in a 1940s movie. I love it.
One way to make the wave at ballgames more enjoyable…as it’s coming around, time it wrong. Stand up and scream too early and then curse yourself. Then miss it and be a second late. That’s not necessarily fun. But having your kids roll their eyes and pretend they don’t know you is a blast each and every time!!!
A couple weeks ago Gary Sanchez (!) and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back triples for the Brewers. What made it even more delightful was that the TV crew almost immediately produced a side by side (actually up and down) video of the two of them perfectly synchronized. I am not exaggerating that Mitchell was standing on third base as Sanchez was rounding second. Hilarious.
I work as a substitute teacher. The wave that brings me joy is the one little kids give me, even if they have not met me yet. And once I've taught them how to do "Vulcan hands" I get a wave which might Mr. Spock's logical heart.
I have always felt the triple was the most exciting play in baseball and mourn it's decline. I would rather see bigger parks with more triples and less home runs. (I understand I am probably in the minority on that one - and obviously the parks have overall gotten smaller in my lifetime) The other thing, of course, is now we know analytically that the penalty for getting thrown out trying to stretch is much bigger than the reward for the extra base. In Joe's leadoff example above, the break even success rate is 77%, so a player should feel close to 90% confident to try for it.
It is funny that Joe featured the Rockies. For a couple of years (about a decade ago, before they were really bad) an area scout for the Rockies lived next door to me. We used to have conversations about what the Rockies philosophy should be. I don't think we ever came up with a good pitching solution, but the thing we agreed should be the priority at the time is very much like what Joe is talking about.
We talked about the priority being having a great fast defensive outfield in a stadium with the biggest outfield in baseball (kind of like the Royals had at that time - about 2015) and focusing more on line drive hitters with speed, leading the league in doubles and triples and though not completely eschewing power hitters, not having any big slow ones, especially in the outfield. Also trying to limit K's and putting the ball in play and getting OBP on that big field.
In the Rockies decline, they have done the exact opposite. They embraced the launch angle thing. They had the worst defensive outfield in baseball last year, the 2nd most Ks, the fewest walks, etc. Their team is slow, and though they have a basic lack of talent problem, it seems they also are building it in the worst way possible, even for what talent they have.
Ichiro is the Mariner leader at 79 playing for Seattle. Those 7 or so per year were part of what made him special to us. How fitting that his 3,000th MLB hit was a triple at Coors field to boot.
1. Owen "Chief" Wilson. His 36 triples in 1912 may be the most unbreakable meaningful, singe-season record there is.
2. Jose Reyes. As a Mets fan in the aughts, the best moment in any game was Reyes hitting a line drive into the gap. The second the ball left his bat on a gapward trajectory, everyone in the stadium and watching at home knew a triple was in the offing.
He hit lines drives into the gap, he was fast-as-all-that, he batted lefty 2/3 the time, and most importantly, he WANTED triples. It was scintillating.
Cincy played 81 games that year. What was he doing in the other five that he neither started nor appeared in relief? Wimp!
bWAR may just break down a wee little bit for some of those 1800s totals. 680 IP of 1.99 ERA (and a 120 ERA+) gives only 3.8 bWAR on the mound. Then White was so bad with the bat (136/153/156 OPS+ of Four) that he had -2.1 as a hitter that his 43-31 record was good for only 1.7 bWAR overall.
I like the little tidbit in his SABR bio that notes his tendency to pitch inside and hit lots of batters back in the days when a HBP did not result in the batter being awarded first base.
A fine column, as always. One quibble: There’s one baseball play even more exciting than a triple — a throw from the right field corner nailing a hitter who tried to stretch his double into a triple.
There are a handful of plays I’ve witnessed in person that stick out in my mind as Incredible Feats of Baseball. One is watching A-Rod hit what looked like a line drive to shortstop that kept carrying until it hit high off the outfield wall. Another is watching Mike Trout rob a home run high over the center field fence at Camden Yards. But I think my absolute favorite is watching Billy Hamilton get a triple in spring training on a line drive into the gap that the center fielder cut off before it got between the outfielders. This is a ball that causes some players to retreat to first. He just flew to third. Amazing stuff.
A close second to the triple is the other play that causes a runner to gain three bases: scoring from first on a double. That moment when the crowd realizes 1) there will be a close play at the plate or 2) the runner is definitely going to be safe is one of the best in baseball.
I've always wondered why inside-the-park home runs aren't called "quadruples" and tracked separately from HR's, since they are different accomplishments.
They are so rare that it doesn't really matter. But does Baseball Reference even have a way to look up how many inside-the-park HR's Wahoo Crawford hit?
Putting 10-15 feet of resilient netting on top of all outfield fences would turn cheap homers into balls caroming around the outfield while runners race for third. And offer a million dollar bonus for the third base coach whose team leads the league in triples.
The link to send my joy suggestions isn't working, so Ill add them here.
Baseball joy: A batter who hits from a crouch, looking like he's ready to spring out from it and last a ball in the gap. Phillies rooking CF Justin Crawford, who excites me on so many silly levels, hits from such a crouch.
Everyday joy: Any friend who has their own buzzword or term, especially an old-fashioned one. I have a friend in work, for instance who's only 40 (I'm 62, hence my use of "only" in regard to that age) who says, "A-OK" when she gets what our mission is for that day. It's so hokey, especially coming out of the mouth of someone who's not in a 1940s movie. I love it.
One way to make the wave at ballgames more enjoyable…as it’s coming around, time it wrong. Stand up and scream too early and then curse yourself. Then miss it and be a second late. That’s not necessarily fun. But having your kids roll their eyes and pretend they don’t know you is a blast each and every time!!!
Lance Johnson, the surfer? He has the best cutback there is.
Cubbies walkoff, all thanks to the Triple! PCA Triples in the ninth, Sac Fly to tie and Conforto pinch hit for the walk off!
Triple's Trivial Tidbit - Dodgers ONLY triple - so far - is from their oldest Everyday player - Freddie Freeman! Who'da guessed?
PS - i was looking up something else about the dodgers, while reading this thread - that's how i found out.
A couple weeks ago Gary Sanchez (!) and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back triples for the Brewers. What made it even more delightful was that the TV crew almost immediately produced a side by side (actually up and down) video of the two of them perfectly synchronized. I am not exaggerating that Mitchell was standing on third base as Sanchez was rounding second. Hilarious.
I work as a substitute teacher. The wave that brings me joy is the one little kids give me, even if they have not met me yet. And once I've taught them how to do "Vulcan hands" I get a wave which might Mr. Spock's logical heart.
I have always felt the triple was the most exciting play in baseball and mourn it's decline. I would rather see bigger parks with more triples and less home runs. (I understand I am probably in the minority on that one - and obviously the parks have overall gotten smaller in my lifetime) The other thing, of course, is now we know analytically that the penalty for getting thrown out trying to stretch is much bigger than the reward for the extra base. In Joe's leadoff example above, the break even success rate is 77%, so a player should feel close to 90% confident to try for it.
It is funny that Joe featured the Rockies. For a couple of years (about a decade ago, before they were really bad) an area scout for the Rockies lived next door to me. We used to have conversations about what the Rockies philosophy should be. I don't think we ever came up with a good pitching solution, but the thing we agreed should be the priority at the time is very much like what Joe is talking about.
We talked about the priority being having a great fast defensive outfield in a stadium with the biggest outfield in baseball (kind of like the Royals had at that time - about 2015) and focusing more on line drive hitters with speed, leading the league in doubles and triples and though not completely eschewing power hitters, not having any big slow ones, especially in the outfield. Also trying to limit K's and putting the ball in play and getting OBP on that big field.
In the Rockies decline, they have done the exact opposite. They embraced the launch angle thing. They had the worst defensive outfield in baseball last year, the 2nd most Ks, the fewest walks, etc. Their team is slow, and though they have a basic lack of talent problem, it seems they also are building it in the worst way possible, even for what talent they have.
I take Qlipta :)
Ichiro is the Mariner leader at 79 playing for Seattle. Those 7 or so per year were part of what made him special to us. How fitting that his 3,000th MLB hit was a triple at Coors field to boot.
Two names MUST be added to the triples chat:
1. Owen "Chief" Wilson. His 36 triples in 1912 may be the most unbreakable meaningful, singe-season record there is.
2. Jose Reyes. As a Mets fan in the aughts, the best moment in any game was Reyes hitting a line drive into the gap. The second the ball left his bat on a gapward trajectory, everyone in the stadium and watching at home knew a triple was in the offing.
He hit lines drives into the gap, he was fast-as-all-that, he batted lefty 2/3 the time, and most importantly, he WANTED triples. It was scintillating.
I'll take Will White's 75 complete games and/or his 680 innings pitched as most unbreakable single season record(s).
Cincy played 81 games that year. What was he doing in the other five that he neither started nor appeared in relief? Wimp!
bWAR may just break down a wee little bit for some of those 1800s totals. 680 IP of 1.99 ERA (and a 120 ERA+) gives only 3.8 bWAR on the mound. Then White was so bad with the bat (136/153/156 OPS+ of Four) that he had -2.1 as a hitter that his 43-31 record was good for only 1.7 bWAR overall.
I like the little tidbit in his SABR bio that notes his tendency to pitch inside and hit lots of batters back in the days when a HBP did not result in the batter being awarded first base.
A fine column, as always. One quibble: There’s one baseball play even more exciting than a triple — a throw from the right field corner nailing a hitter who tried to stretch his double into a triple.
I failed to mention that Philip Roth is the author!
There are a handful of plays I’ve witnessed in person that stick out in my mind as Incredible Feats of Baseball. One is watching A-Rod hit what looked like a line drive to shortstop that kept carrying until it hit high off the outfield wall. Another is watching Mike Trout rob a home run high over the center field fence at Camden Yards. But I think my absolute favorite is watching Billy Hamilton get a triple in spring training on a line drive into the gap that the center fielder cut off before it got between the outfielders. This is a ball that causes some players to retreat to first. He just flew to third. Amazing stuff.
A close second to the triple is the other play that causes a runner to gain three bases: scoring from first on a double. That moment when the crowd realizes 1) there will be a close play at the plate or 2) the runner is definitely going to be safe is one of the best in baseball.
I've always wondered why inside-the-park home runs aren't called "quadruples" and tracked separately from HR's, since they are different accomplishments.
They are so rare that it doesn't really matter. But does Baseball Reference even have a way to look up how many inside-the-park HR's Wahoo Crawford hit?
Putting 10-15 feet of resilient netting on top of all outfield fences would turn cheap homers into balls caroming around the outfield while runners race for third. And offer a million dollar bonus for the third base coach whose team leads the league in triples.
But each one of those triples is one less home run ball for a fan to take home.........