Take a whiff

Strikeouts are up, and Bobby Bonds' record is in jeopardy

Toronto second baseman Orlando Hudson struck out four straight times against three Yankees pitchers on April 16. After the last whiff, television cameras caught him in the dugout reacting with an outburst of unbridled ... laughter. Hudson yucked it up despite the 4K performance. "He's just a young kid who knows he's having a tough time right now and all he could do was laugh," Blue Jays hitting coach Mike Barnett said after the game.

Consider it a sign of the times. The taboo culture of the strikeout is officially dead. Long gone are the days when, as Mets bench coach Don Baylor once said, hitters were embarrassed to whiff 100 times in a season. Reds outfielder Adam Dunn might have that number licked by the All-Star break at the rate he's hacking. And the Blue Jays, who come away with nothing but air more than any team in the American League, are the leading example of why strikeouts are no longer considered verboten. Toronto is implementing an offensive philosophy similar to what Oakland and New York have used: see as many pitches as possible, try to get one you can jack out of the park, and don't worry about getting punched out.

"The Yankees showed that it's not such a bad thing to have a lot of strikeouts," Barnett said.

New York led the AL in strikeouts last year (1,171). In what may have seemed like a paradox a generation ago, the Yankees also led the league in runs (897). They were so productive even with all those seemingly wasteful outs because they led the league in walks and were second in home runs.

"Strikeouts by themselves aren't so bad," Barnett said. "It's how they come. If a guy goes up there and chases the first pitch out of the strike zone and grounds out weakly, is that better than a guy who works the count, sees five or six pitches and then strikes out? I don't think so. We're trying to do what the Yankees have done: make the [starting] pitcher work, get his pitch count up and get into the middle relief as soon as we can. Strikeouts are a part of that."

Actually, this season the Yankees, owners of the best record in the majors (16-3) through Monday, are striking out almost 20 percent less than they did last year. Manager Joe Torre has been effusive in his praise of Hideki Matsui for the influence the Japanese outfielder has had on New York's lineup. Matsui's ability to put the ball in play, Torre said, has contributed to the Yankees becoming a better rally team this season.

At the start of this week Toronto had three of the top 12 strikeout leaders in baseball: Eric Hinske, Josh Phelps and Carlos Delgado. The club was on pace for 1,389 Ks making it possible for the Jays to take a run at the single-season team record of 1,399 held by the 2001 Brewers

The individual season record for strikeouts -- 189 by Bobby Bonds -- has stood for 32 years, thanks in part to Jose Hernandez sitting out most of the last two weeks of last season and finishing with 188. This may be the year that the record finally goes down, seeing that strikeouts aren't considered so vile any more (at least for those who hit 25 homers or more.) Dunn, Hernandez and Pat Burrell could all make a run at the mark. Don't discount Rocco Baldelli (a rare low-homer, high-strikeout hitter) and Corey Patterson, young players with no plate discipline who rarely walk.

Bonds' record deserves to be eclipsed now that today's players have developed in a thin-handled, big-barreled hitting culture in which taking a huge hack with two strikes is encouraged over putting the ball in play. You whiffed? No problem, bro. You made the pitcher throw a few more pitches and you took a crack at hitting one out.

Think about this: until 1997, there were only 25 occurrences in baseball history in which a batter struck out more than 160 times in a season. In the six years since, it's happened 23 times. So go get 'em, sluggers. With your coaches' blessings, the race for 190 is on.

Ortiz's Brave new world

Russ Ortiz quickly has become an enthusiastic proponent of the Braves' maintenance program of throwing twice, rather than once, between starts. "I'm able to see the results already," Ortiz said. "The most important thing is when I'm going out there [for a start] I feel like I have command of all my pitches."

Well, the results aren't as obvious to the rest of us just yet. In his first four starts Ortiz walked more batters (13) than he struck out (11) while averaging a little more than five innings each time out.

The Braves obtained Ortiz from San Francisco largely because the Giants bullpen blew that 5-0 lead for him in Game Six of the World Series last year. It would have been much more difficult for the Giants to dump the guy who pitched the franchise to its first world championship in almost half a century.

Then Giants manager Dusty Baker, you might recall, asked Ortiz if he wanted to keep the game ball as he removed him in the seventh inning. Some Angels regarded that as an act of hubris. (Most didn't notice at all.) Ortiz not only kept the ball, he's also building a display case for it and other series memorabilia in his Arizona home.

"Who knows, that could be the only time I go to the World Series," he said of the infamous souvenir. "I hope it's not, but it could be."

Piazza's throwing problems worsen

Mets catcher Mike Piazza calls a good game behind the plate, works hard at blocking balls in the dirt and enjoys taking a leadership role. Despite that lunch-pail ethic, his throwing has become an embarrassment. Last weekend against the Marlins Piazza's arm was so off that the Mets ordered him not to throw to second base in first-and-third situations, a tactic typically reserved for Little League catchers. Florida swiped nine bases in two games (Piazza sat out the third), including six in the series opener. Here's what Piazza did on those six steals:

1. Fired a two-hopper on which the first bounce occurred in front of the pitching rubber.
2. Threw wide right into center field for an error.
3. No throw (on a first-and-third).
4. No throw.
5. No throw (dropped pitch).
6. Bounced a throw center field for an error.

The stolen bases were the baseball equivalent of uncontested layups in basketball. Despite those pratfalls, the Mets won the first game against Florida (program note: we'll save the inflated value of stolen bases for another day) in great part because pitcher Al Leiter erased one of Piazza's throwing miscues by striking out three straight batters with a man on third, the last on four straight curveballs. With Mo Vaughn playing first base, and showing some life in his bat, the thought of Piazza changing positions is a non-issue. But look for opposing teams to run even more on Piazza than they have in the past, a trend that increases the pressure on Mets pitchers to quicken their deliveries and work harder at holding runners -- which can reduce their concentration on getting hitters out.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.

 

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