Baseball - tactics against good batters

[Peter B]

I've been reading a book about the Australian cricket player Don Bradman, and it's prompted a little question about baseball I was hoping a few experts might be able to answer.

Background: For those who don't know, Bradman was a batsman of literally unequalled talent. His batting average in Test (international) matches of 99.94 is more than 50% higher than the next player. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Bradman#World_sport_context his batting average is 4.4 standard deviations above the mean. By comparison, Ty Cobb's batting average of 0.367 is 'only' 3.6 standard deviations above the mean. A baseball batting average (a career average) 4.4 SDs above the mean would be 0.392.

Anyway, in 1932 Bradman went on a private cricket tour of the USA and Canada. While there he went to a couple of baseball games, and he met Babe Ruth. Bradman was apparently a little underwhelmed by the abilities of baseball batters, and seems to have been convinced he could do better.

I'm not so sure.

So the question I have is, what effect does a very good batter have on an opposing team's tactics?

Bradman's ability lay in his sharp eye and very quick footwork, and this allowed him to hit just about any ball he wanted to hit, and to place it where he wanted. He was a fast runner, so combined with placement it seems likely he could often give himself a good chance to get to first. He also trained himself to keep the ball down, limiting the likelihood of him being out caught but also likely meaning he wouldn't hit many home runs.

But where in cricket you get to keep batting until you're out, in baseball you'll probably face fewer than 20 pitches in a game. And even if you make it to first base (or even second or third) you still have to rely on team mates surviving long enough to let you score a run.

Would opposing teams have deliberately walked Bradman? Or would there be other tactics to use against him?

[Echnaton]

Deliberate walking is a strategy that is used in certain tactical situations, but not as a routine practice for sluggers.  One such time is late in a close game when a big home run hitter comes to bat, particularity if he is a slower runner.  Other times it depends on how many outs there are and what runners are on which base.   For instance, if there is a runner on second and a batter is up that can hit long singles that would allow the runner to score, the batter might be walked in favor of a less able hitter that comes up next.  Or if two runners are on, one at third and the other at first or second, you might fill the bases to get a force out at home in case of a bunt.  Etc...  Baseball is a very statistically driven game so coaches play the odds, which are different for every pitch.  Although much of the time they play hunches rather than numbers. 

I've watched some cricket and I am not sure that the batting between the games is all that comparable.  Baseball pitchers can throw a fast ball at ~90 miles an hour and since it is hit with a round bat, control of direction is done with the timing of the swing rather than by changing the facing direction of the bat.  I don't doubt that cricket batting is equally difficult, but I think a batter from either sport would have trouble stepping onto the others field and hitting better than a novice.  Getting a hit in baseball, where a player that succeeds one third of the time is considered top notch, is one of the most difficult acts in sports.

This raises a question for me, what is averaged in a cricketers batting average.

[Al Johnston]

There's also the detail that baseball batting average is hits per at-bat, not hits per pitch faced, so it's possible to get a 'top notch' average hitting less than 10% of pitches thrown...

Cricket batting average is runs scored divided by number of times out, so it's better for your average to score 99 not out than 100 and be bowled.

[Peter B]

Deliberate walking is a strategy that is used in certain tactical situations, but not as a routine practice for sluggers. One such time is late in a close game when a big home run hitter comes to bat, particularity if he is a slower runner. Other times it depends on how many outs there are and what runners are on which base. For instance, if there is a runner on second and a batter is up that can hit long singles that would allow the runner to score, the batter might be walked in favor of a less able hitter that comes up next. Or if two runners are on, one at third and the other at first or second, you might fill the bases to get a force out at home in case of a bunt. Etc...  Baseball is a very statistically driven game so coaches play the odds, which are different for every pitch. Although much of the time they play hunches rather than numbers.

Fair enough. Any thoughts on what sorts of tactics might be tried? Or would someone with exceptional batting ability be genuinely able to affect the results of games?

I've watched some cricket and I am not sure that the batting between the games is all that comparable.  Baseball pitchers can throw a fast ball at ~90 miles an hour and since it is hit with a round bat, control of direction is done with the timing of the swing rather than by changing the facing direction of the bat.

It's worth noting that bowlers in cricket can also reach 90 mph. The fastest have actually touched 100 mph, though I think only two or three have managed it. Certainly in Bradman's time bowlers were slower, and the one genuinely fast bowler of the era, Englishman Harold Larwood, did give Bradman problems on occasions.

Regarding the use of the bat, Bradman used to get his eye in by hitting a golf ball against a curved wall using a cricket stump, which is a long thin cylinder of wood (see

from about 1m35s). So I think it's entirely possible he could have mastered the art of baseball batting.

In the other direction, Babe Ruth apparently had a tryout at cricket batting, with immediate success. Apparently he was discouraged from further interest in the game by the comparative lack of pay.

I don't doubt that cricket batting is equally difficult, but I think a batter from either sport would have trouble stepping onto the others field and hitting better than a novice.  Getting a hit in baseball, where a player that succeeds one third of the time is considered top notch, is one of the most difficult acts in sports.

This raises a question for me, what is averaged in a cricketers batting average.

As Al J says, a cricket batting average is the number of runs scored divided by the number of times the batsman is out. Bradman played 52 Tests. He batted 80 times, and was not out 10 times. He scored 6996 runs, so his average is 6996 / (80 - 10) = 99.94.

[Echnaton]

Any thoughts on what sorts of tactics might be tried? Or would someone with exceptional batting ability be genuinely able to affect the results of games?

Being a casual fan of baseball, I only know about tactics in a general sense and every pitch in every game is a unique situation.  It even goes down to how many pitches the pitcher has thrown because of the changes in his arm's abilities during the game.  Starting pitchers are generally pulled after ~100 pitches, but that varies between players.  The shifting strategy is one of the things I like about baseball.

Winning a game can be a matter of one well hit ball at the right time, so yes, a power hitter is a big threat late in a tight game when there are runners on base.  In the batting lineup, the highest percentage hitters are up first and the best slugger usually bats fourth in the rotation.  So the guy after the biggest home run threat is normally the fifth best hitter.  In this scenario, pitching to the fifth guy is a good option.  Another option though, is to change pitchers to one that has better odds against the particular hitter, even if it is just for that at bat.  I was at two Boston Redsocks home games last month and they put in their side arm pitcher in a couple of tight spots late in each game, for all the good it did them as Toronto kept hammering balls onto the street outside the park.

This has once again raised my interest in seeing a Cricket game.  There apparently is a brand new "stadium" in some retired farm land within 15 miles of me promising covered seating for visitors.  Other clubs play on the soccer fields at George Bush Park.  The leagues are on break for Ramadan now but will be starting back up for the fall season.  I'll try to make a game. 

[twik]

I think first of all, Bradman might have found placing the ball just where he wanted to would be much more difficult with a baseball bat compared to a cricket bat. The surfaces are very different, and the curved baseball bat gives much less directional control to the hitter.

However, it's likely that someone with the physiology to hit well in cricket would also become a good baseball hitter, with enough practice. In that case, the strategy of the opposing team would become quite important. As others have mentioned, the intentional walk can be used. Also, switching pitchers can be done, to get one who specialized in the sort of pitches that Bradman would have a lower percentage against. Some batters like balls that are up, others down - some can hit close pitches, others are good when the ball is slightly outside the strike zone away from them. Of course, left versus right-handed pitching can make a big difference as well.

If Bradman specialized in line drives inside the park rather than home runs, the fielders would adjust their positions based on where he was likely to hit. Then, it would become a competition to "hit it where they ain't," as one player described it.

[Echnaton]

However, it's likely that someone with the physiology to hit well in cricket would also become a good baseball hitter, with enough practice.

I agree.  Since the actions are so similar is seems likely.  But hitting at your top potential is made through practice.  It requires knowing what the pitcher is likely to pitch to you in any situation and watching his motion and the flight of the ball to see what he really is pitching.  That is a skill that takes experience to develop.  A player crossing from one game to the other would need plenty of batting practice to develop into as strong of a hitter as he had been.