I'll admit that it's shocked the hell out of me, too. But one season of "long ball" doesn't trump the fact that "small ball" is still where baseball is headed. I'm not talking about abandoning the HR altogether, but you should NEVER have to rely on simply one aspect of the game. I'm sure that a lot of those teams in the SR can win pitching duels, and I'm sure they have in the past as well. Just because LSU blew-out Miami in the Peach Bowl in football doesn't mean that they're not also able to win a close-one as well... maybe not the best comparison, but no matter how many HR hitters you have on your team, you're still going to find yourself in a situation where you're going to have to pitch and play D. It's all about balance.
Jay, I understand what you are saying. I need to correct something I said. When I say long ball I do not mean just homeruns, I am talking about power hitting all through out the line up. not just 1 or 2 guys that can hit a bunch of 1 run homers. Sorry I did not explain myself better.
LSU had trouble hitting this season period, not just HR's or gappers. We were last in batting average in SEC conference play and ranked near the bottom in every other category except for HR's and slugging percentage. I think that blows the theory that the coaches couldn't coach the long ball, it tells me the guys just couldn't hit all that well and maybe tried to hit too many long balls.
Small ball is something teams need to be able to play, but you cannot rely on it to win. If your goal is to score three runs and play good defense then you have set yourself up for failure.
getting a leadoff double then sac. that runner downto 3rd or even 2nd is just giving the other team a free out. The % is actually higher by just trying to hit the ball, if you are late in the ball game a need an insurance run then thats acceptable. This year we tried to play small ball and didn't a horrible job at times getting thrown out and hitting into DP's. If our new coach even wants to think of playing small ball he better do his homework and figure out how to do it right.
That probably is part of the difference to, not just the bats. But i do believe the bats have been the biggest part of the equation, not only because of how far the ball went but also because pitchers were afraid to come inside. Now they are working both sides of the plate, giving batters much more to think about.
