Wrong move in my opinion.
What happened to the lost art of the "unintentional-intentional" walk? A pitcher with decent control can throw a power hitter like Barry Bonds enough junk in or away that won't allow him to hit a home run. Worst case scenario, his keen eye gets him a walk. Best case, his mounting frustration with being walked all the time compels him to swing and he hits into a weak DP.
Either way, the standard intentional walk is too dangerous in that situation.
What happened to the lost art of the "unintentional-intentional" walk? A pitcher with decent control can throw a power hitter like Barry Bonds enough junk in or away that won't allow him to hit a home run. Worst case scenario, his keen eye gets him a walk. Best case, his mounting frustration with being walked all the time compels him to swing and he hits into a weak DP.
Either way, the standard intentional walk is too dangerous in that situation.
Even the great Barry Bonds gets out some 68% of the time he's up, excluding walks.
He can be struck out, he can be gotten out. You don't want to make a mistake to him, but the teams that are in the playoffs are there, presumably, because they have good pitchers who know how to locate pitches. Barry Bonds is awesome, perhaps the greatest player I've seen in my lifetime (although his inability to hit the ball to the opposite field gives me pause...any GREAT hitter should be able to spray the ball everywhere), but he's not immortal. Walks are extremely dangerous.
..although what the hell happened to Fonzie? For years he was the bedrock of the Mets' organization and lineup, and this year he's downright mediocre. The Giants' anemic lineup outside of Bonds is the main reason they're not going anywhere in the playoffs, Jason Schmidt and tremendous home field advantage notwithstanding.
He can be struck out, he can be gotten out. You don't want to make a mistake to him, but the teams that are in the playoffs are there, presumably, because they have good pitchers who know how to locate pitches. Barry Bonds is awesome, perhaps the greatest player I've seen in my lifetime (although his inability to hit the ball to the opposite field gives me pause...any GREAT hitter should be able to spray the ball everywhere), but he's not immortal. Walks are extremely dangerous.
..although what the hell happened to Fonzie? For years he was the bedrock of the Mets' organization and lineup, and this year he's downright mediocre. The Giants' anemic lineup outside of Bonds is the main reason they're not going anywhere in the playoffs, Jason Schmidt and tremendous home field advantage notwithstanding.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dogs24:
Even the great Barry Bonds gets out some 68% of the time he's up, excluding walks.
He can be struck out, he can be gotten out. You don't want to make a mistake to him, but the teams that are in the playoffs are there, presumably, because they have good pitchers who know how to locate pitches. Barry Bonds is awesome, perhaps the greatest player I've seen in my lifetime (although his inability to hit the ball to the opposite field gives me pause...any GREAT hitter should be able to spray the ball everywhere), but he's not immortal. Walks are extremely dangerous.
..although what the hell happened to Fonzie? For years he was the bedrock of the Mets' organization and lineup, and this year he's downright mediocre. The Giants' anemic lineup outside of Bonds is the main reason they're not going anywhere in the playoffs, Jason Schmidt and tremendous home field advantage notwithstanding.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
fonzie has to keep completely healthy and in shape... he used to be in alot better shape.
Even the great Barry Bonds gets out some 68% of the time he's up, excluding walks.
He can be struck out, he can be gotten out. You don't want to make a mistake to him, but the teams that are in the playoffs are there, presumably, because they have good pitchers who know how to locate pitches. Barry Bonds is awesome, perhaps the greatest player I've seen in my lifetime (although his inability to hit the ball to the opposite field gives me pause...any GREAT hitter should be able to spray the ball everywhere), but he's not immortal. Walks are extremely dangerous.
..although what the hell happened to Fonzie? For years he was the bedrock of the Mets' organization and lineup, and this year he's downright mediocre. The Giants' anemic lineup outside of Bonds is the main reason they're not going anywhere in the playoffs, Jason Schmidt and tremendous home field advantage notwithstanding.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
fonzie has to keep completely healthy and in shape... he used to be in alot better shape.
