MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / July 26, 2000

LAPLACE – The year 1968 was the year of the pitcher. Denny McLain won31 games. Bob Gibson set a major league record with a 1.12 earned runaverage. Don Drysdale had a record-setting 58 2/3 consecutive scorelessinning streak. Carl Yastrzemski led the American League in hitting – witha .301 batting average.After that season, baseball officials decided to do something to increase offense in the game. The mound was raised for the following season andever since, nearly every change in the sport has been for the betterment of the batter. The designated hitter was introduced in the American League in1973. Aluminum bats became in vogue in colleges, high schools and LittleLeagues. The strike zone became tighter and tighter. Those developments led to an exponential increase in offense, one that matched the exponential increase in salaries in the majors. Roger Maris’record of 61 home runs in 1961 lasted for 37 years and then was broken four times in two years. Average ERAs increased into the 4.00s. Double-digit scores became common place.

This year, through Sunday, no Major League team had an ERA below 4.11.Atlanta, a team that has been carried by its pitching for over a decade, had an ERA of 4.18. Toronto had a team ERA of 5.46 and was a game and a halfout of first place. Texas, Chicago, San Francisco and Colorado all had teambatting averages near .290. Nomar Garciaparra, Darin Erstad and ToddHelton are all flirting with .400, a figure not reached in 59 years. A MVP-type season for a player used to be a .300 batting average, 35 homeruns and 100 runs batted in. Now, six players already have 30 or morehome runs. Twelve have 80 or more runs batted in. Fifty-seven havebatting averages over .300.”It’s gorilla ball,” former Riverside Academy baseball coach Tommy Fernandez said. “A 6-5 game today is comparable to a 3-2 game a fewyears ago. It’s evolved into a game of offense.”Both Fernandez and former St. Charles Catholic High School baseball coachFrank Monica agreed that expansion and free agency has diluted Major League pitching staffs.

In the past 40 years, Major League Baseball has expanded six times – 1961, 1962, 1969, 1977, 1993 and 1998 – increasing the number of teams from 16 to 30. With 12-man pitching staffs, that’s 168 more arms thatneeded to be found and 360 overall.

“There are not 360 major league pitchers in America,” Fernandez said.

The need for more pitchers have caused Major League teams to sign players right out of high school and rush them to the big leagues. Whereonce a pitcher like Warren Spahn did not come up the majors to stay until he was in his late 20s, pitchers these days are facing big league hitters before they are old enough to drink.

“Expansion has turned Triple A pitchers into major league pitchers,” Fernandez said. “The big leagues are getting kids 18 years-old. They spendthree years in the minors and reach the pros when they are 21. If they hadgone to college, they would be in the big leagues at 25 or 26. The bigleagues say let’s get them now and find out in three years if they can or can’t pitch major league ball.”Monica thinks that practice is to the detriment of the pitching in the big leagues with the players not being able to learn how to properly pitch.

“At the Major League level, with free agency and expansion, pitching has diminished a little bit,” Monica said. “Pitchers don’t seem to be real goodfundamentally. The fundamentals and the art of pitching are not taught.The ones that are are the ones that are winning. But most are not beingtaught the fundamentals to be good pitchers.

“You find the ones out of colleges have better fundamentals. (The pros) aretaking kids with a lot of ability but not formal training. They sign kidsbecause they have potential.”Fernandez said a part of that is that youngsters today do not play as much pitch and catch as they used to.

“There are more things for them to do than go out in 85 or 90 degree heat and throw a baseball,” Fernandez said.

But it’s not just the dearth of pitching that has caused the sudden increase in offense. Weight training used to be almost taboo in the game.Now players must do it year round in order to keep up.

“Most schools didn’t have weight programs in the 1980s,” Hahnville High School head coach Mark Sims said. “The weight boom began in the 1990sand look at the difference. The players are dedicated to the job and aredoing it year round. I think pitching is fine, it’s just the weight work theyare doing now.”Riverside alum Ryan Lousteau, who led the University of New Orleans in saves this season, said players like Mark McGwire have influenced their colleagues to hit the weight room.

“I think batters are just getting in the weight room,” Lousteau said. “Theysee how big McGwire is and are getting fired up.”But Fernandez said while weight training has helped the hitters, it doesn’t do much for pitchers.

“Most major leaguers have personal trainers and they have batting cages in their homes,” Fernandez said. “(Baltimore’s) Will Clark takes 150 to200 cuts a day. Pitchers can’t go out and there and pitch 200 pitches a day.It won’t make them any stronger.”Davey Clement, who was an assistant coach under Fernandez at Riverside and is now the head coach of the Rebels, agreed.

“Weights have become a major factor in hitting,” Clement said. “Weightsmay help a hitter but they might hurt a pitcher. A pitcher lifting wightswon’t help him throw 105 miles per hour.”Lutcher head coach Scott Tribble said he thinks batters are not only getting better physically but are also getting to be better students of the game. He also pointed out that the new ballparks, such as Enron Field inHouston, are geared more toward offense.

“You have to give credit to the physical improvement of the batters and not down the pitchers,” Tribble said. “Physically, they are doing a betterjob and mentally, they are doing more against pitchers. I think you have togive credit to the offensive side of the ball.”Another factor often mentioned as a cause in the offensive explosion is the shrinkage of the strike zone in recent years. Rule 2.00 of the OfficialPlaying Rules defines the strike zone as “the space over home plate which is between the batter’s arm pits and the top of his knees when he assumes a natural stance.” But in reality, the strike zone is interpreted differentlyby nearly every umpire.

“Some umpires’ strike zones are getting to be hitters’ strike zones,” Lousteau said.

Aluminum bats have made a difference on the high school and college level. Just a few years ago, LSU set a NCAA record by hitting over 170home runs in a season and Southern Cal defeated Arizona State in the College World Series championship game, 21-14.

The NCAA has already taken measures to trim the impact of aluminum bats, enacting rules to restrict maximum exit ball speed and making the bats more wood-like.

The National Federation of State High School Associations has followed suit for the 2001 season, approving a rule calling for narrower, heavier and more wood-like bats. The NFHS also anticipates that bats used nextseason will also comply with the NCAA exit ball speed rule.

“The bats have had a lot to do with it,” Destrehan High School head coach Mark Willoughby said of the increase in run scoring. “Pitching will be onthe rebound next year. They will have an advantage by being able to throwup in the zone again. Hitters will have to change. It will be tougher to hitthe inside fastball. I think it will be good for the game.”Tribble said he also believes the rule will change the game. But he notedthat high school games are often decided by whichever team can make the plays in the field rather the ones that can knock the ball out of it.

“As far as home runs becoming a factor, I haven’t seen it,” Tribble said. “Idon’t think it’s anything close to the Major Leagues. You don’t see manyhome runs win games in high schools. In the majors, they are so good atthe little things, they are not a factor. In high school, the little things aremore of a factor.” And while most of the coaches said they preferred a low-scoring game, they noted that the increase in the offensive production has helped draw fans to the ballpark. The home run chase of 1998 between McGwire andSammy Sosa helped make the game the talk of the country again after the work stoppage of 1994.

“I think it’s good for the game,” Sims said. “The bottom line in pro ball isto put people in the stands. They like home runs. They like to see guys runthe bases and hit the ball. They like to see runs.”Monica agreed, although he noted that with more batters putting the ball into play, it puts more pressure on the defense.

“The increase in offense is not hurting the game,” Monica said. “It’scausing more errors because more balls are put into play and fielders are having to get extra outs. But people want to see offense.”And when it comes down to it, Sims said the best pitchers are still going to get batters out and win games. Pedro Martinez of Boston still has anERA around 1.50. Atlanta’s Greg Maddux is still probably going to win 20games and Arizona’s Randy Johnson is on pace to set the season strikeout record.

“The better pitchers are still going to dominate,” Sims said. “The (Kevin)Browns, Madduxs and Martinezes are still going to dominate. The numberone and number two pitchers on most Major League teams are still going to dominate.”And the teams that get the best pitching are probably still going to have the most success. Current division leaders New York, Chicago, Seattle,Atlanta and Arizona all rank in the top four in the leagues in ERA.

“As a whole, people think the game is all about hitting,” Monica said. “Ithink it’s all about pitching. Pitching is going to keep you in a lot moregames than hitting.”

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