The Ten Commandments for success in Major League Baseball, by Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy:
1. Nobody ever became a ballplayer by walking after a ball.
2. You will never become a .300 hitter unless you take the bat off your shoulder.
3. An outfield who throws in back of a runner is locking the barn after the horse is stolen.
4. Keep your head up and you may not have to keep it down.
5. When you start to slide, SLIDE. He who changes his mind may have to change a good leg for a bad one.
6. Do not alibi on bad hops. Anyone can field the good ones.
7. Always run them out. You never can tell.
8. Do not quit.
9. Try not to find too much fault with the umpires. You cannot expect them to be as perfect as you are.
10. A pitcher who hasn’t control hasn’t anything.
I dunno. I think #1 and #2 can be challanged.
A person who walks a lot can, indeed, be a really good ballplayer, especially if he has speed. I remember we used to have a guy in Cleveland named Kenny Lofton who did that well. He would walk after many ball fours, and almost never took the bat off of his shoulder when things were not going well [he had a really good eye], and just simply got on base via the walk. When he did, he reeked havok on other teams, because he would then proceed to steal second, and score on a base hit.
God Bless,
Adam
Adam, I suspect that McCarthy was thinking more about defense than offense on #1. As for #2, he was right in that you have to take your bat off your shoulder to be a .300 hitter, although you’re right in that drawing lots of walks can make you a valuable player. 🙂
@Cubbie and @Adam: Yep…I would surmise that McCarthy was talking more about hustle–in the field–and not about what one does as he takes a base on balls.
His remarks about “keeping the bat on your shoulder” are addressing the larger matter of laziness and aloofness: if you want to be a .300 hitter, you need to have your head in the game.