Which makes this article by ESPN's Tim Kurkjian compelling reading. Strikeouts are up significantly in the majors, and the numbers are staggering. DiMaggio's career numbers are astounding -- some players will take 1 1/2 seasons to strike out 369 times. True, the stat heads have figured out that on-base percentage and slugging percentage combined might mean more to a team than having a good contact hitter, but to what extent? And, yes, it's better to have someone who runs more like an arthritic steer fan with men on base than hit into a double play. But how healthy can it be to miss the ball as often as some players are doing? I still believe that if you have too many guys on your team who whiff more than 100 times a season, you won't score enough runs to contend.
Alternatively, I'm waiting for commentators to inform me that players like DiMaggio and Ted Williams were statistical outliers whose stats aren't likely to be replicated for a long time, and that we all should appreciate Adam Dunn -- who plays defense about as well as Denise Richards sings "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- more.
Have at it.
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This was an interesting article, but I wince when I read a sentence like this, "Howard is one of the premier power hitters in the game, but he already has more career strikeouts than Williams in nearly four times fewer games." Four times fewer? This is a professional writer? Is this the journalistic equivalent of a 100 strikeout season?
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