Um...New hitting coach?

As a child, I failed to appreciate the worth of a hitting coach to a major league baseball team. Good players simply hit well, in my estimation. I was a Baltimore Orioles fan, and Boog Powell simply hit well, as did Eddie Murray and Ken Singleton. Mark Belanger, well, did other things well. I followed the Orioles rather closely in those days, and I can't for the life of me recall the name of their hitting coach. But they won World Series, those O's.

In 1980, I would catch a Reuters line telling me that the O's were down 3-1 in the ninth, and I knew they would win the game. Good pitching of course, but it was always a key late-inning hit that spelled the difference.

I can't make sense of baseball these days. Batters simply exhibit no discipline at the plate and swing wildly for the fences in the hope of a highlight. Consider the following line from the Orioles/Nationals game on May 22:


Seventh inning:

CoreyPatterson struck out.
Nick Markakis struck out
Miguel Tejada grounded out.

Eighth inning:

Scott struck out
Wiggington fouled out
Wieters popped out

Ninth inning:

Jones struck out
Itzuris struck out
Moore grounded out

A one run game. In the final three Oriole innings: nine outs. Zero balls hit out of the infield. Indeed, only two balls hit into fair territory. This is a team that scored 6 runs in the first 6 innings, but when the chips are down, it loses.

In 1980, with the O's down by a run in the 7th, the line might well have read:

Bumbry bunt single, stole second
Decinces singled to right, Bumbry to third
Murray sacrificed to deep right, Bumbry scored
Singleton homered to left, Decinces scored
Roenicke flied out to center
Dauer walked
Dempsey singled to left, Dauer to second
Crowley singled to right, Dauer scored, Dempsey to second
Belanger struck out

Now you have your strikeout. But before that came three runs scored on five hits, a walk, and a stolen base. And the Orioles won 9-7. Note from this hypothetical box score how the hitters of 1980 pushed the ball to right field, behind the runners. And Dauer coaxed the BB. And a stolen base? Where did that come from?

This little experiment has been drawn largely from my memory of how a fine team played baseball, but I think it throws light on the lousy execution and selfish play of today's players. Where are the walks, stolen bases, and bunts on this gathering of players?


All those strikeouts in the late innings. Somebody was swinging for the fences.