They have the good face.

I have my doubts that Babe Ruth or Sliding Billy Hamilton were what you'd call "laid back." I am certain that Ted Williams and John McGraw were not. Eddie Stanky was called "The Brat" for a reason. I am much more likely to believe that taking walks is an ingrained thing; I describe Moneyball's "big" sabermetric moment as the discovery that taking walks is a sixth tool, not really a skill. For what it's worth, the guys who went through cocaine rehab in the 1970s and 1980s generally came out of it with less batting average but more walks, leading to about the same overall value that they had had before rehab, just distributed differently. That is an argument for "laid back." But, in general, I don't think that this thesis holds. - Brock Hanke

Conventional wisdom is that the more pitches you see, the more you will walk. Then how do you explain the fact that the low-walk Royals have seen almost as many pitches this season as the high-walk Rays? Through Tuesday, the Rays averaged 3.83 P/PA, the Royals 3.76.

One way: Swinging and missing. The Rays whiff at pitches more than any team except the Washington Nationals. The Royals swing and miss less than any team in the majors.

"We're swinging and putting balls in play and not getting to ball four," Royals hitting coach Kevin Seitzer says, "even though we are working (about) the same number of pitches per at-bat."

The Royals take 53.6 percent of the pitches they see (through Tuesday), compared to 55.3 percent for the Rays. But the Royals put 20.4 percent of the pitches at which they swing in play, the Rays 17.8 percent.

I like how the Royals wear this as a badge of honor. Dear lord.

Apparently the author hasn't seen Adrian Gonzalez recently.

I like how the Royals wear this as a badge of honor. Dear lord.

Should they start swinging and missing on purpose?

Should they start swinging and missing on purpose?

I was talking more about the attitude of "we're going to swing early in the count and put it in play, and to hell with ball four."

I was talking more about the attitude of "we're going to swing early in the count and put it in play, and to hell with ball four."

I'm not seeing that attitude (at least from the excerpt) reflected. It seems Seitzer is saying the reason the Royals don't walk a lot is not because they're just up there hacking, which you absolutely don't want to hear from your hitting coach. He's saying they're taking a respectable number of pitches, but when they swing the bat in anger, they're putting the ball in play at a higher rate. Now, there's a whole lot in there that goes unanswered in that set of facts, but I don't see anything from Seitzer that's embarrassing on its face.

All I know about walks is that Pete Rose sprinted to first base 1,566 times after drawing one :)

I'm not seeing that attitude (at least from the excerpt) reflected. It seems Seitzer is saying the reason the Royals don't walk a lot is not because they're just up there hacking, which you absolutely don't want to hear from your hitting coach. He's saying they're taking a respectable number of pitches, but when they swing the bat in anger, they're putting the ball in play at a higher rate. Now, there's a whole lot in there that goes unanswered in that set of facts, but I don't see anything from Seitzer that's embarrassing on its face.

"We're swinging and putting balls in play and not getting to ball four," Royals hitting coach Kevin Seitzer says, "even though we are working (about) the same number of pitches per at-bat."

I don't see how they're "taking a respectable number of pitches." They are third worst in the league in P/PA. The author says "the low-walk Royals have seen almost as many pitches this season as the high-walk Rays", but the difference between 3.83 and 3.76 is actually a pretty big one. It also reveals what they consider to be important - making contact over pitch selection. They fact they are third worst in the league in runs/game indicates this may not be the best strategy (of course the Rays are just ahead of them, so their strategy isn't working either.)

It also reveals what they consider to be important - making contact over pitch selection.

No, it doesn't reveal that they value that or that making contact above all else is what they're intending to do. Just that this is what's happening.*

* Now, as a Royals fan you may be privy to more detailed commentary from Mr. Seitzer than what's presented here, and it's obvious that they are not a good offense at the moment. But the excerpt itself is benign.

No, it doesn't reveal that they value that or that making contact above all else is what they're intending to do. Just that this is what's happening.*

* Now, as a Royals fan you may be privy to more detailed commentary from Mr. Seitzer than what's presented here, and it's obvious that they are not a good offense at the moment. But the excerpt itself is benign.

Okay, I see your POV, and the quote is benign in and of itself. But the team has presented this stat as something to be proud of and Seitzer has stressed putting the ball in play, and of course, the organization since its inception has always been a free-swinging contact team loathe to walk, and I'm projecting some of that on the quote.

Moneyball's "big" sabermetric moment as the discovery that taking walks is a sixth tool

can you elaborate on what this means? I would think getting on base would be a skill..