From Joe Posnanski (http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/joey-votto-ted-williams-too-patient/) today:
How are these attitudes allowed to persist in player development? How long does it take for professionals to understand what makes a team or a hitter successful?
Marty Brennaman, the legendary Reds announcer, said before this year that if Votto were content to lead the league in on-base percentage, the Reds would be in a lot of trouble. Longtime Cincinnati columnist Paul Daugherty has written numerous columns questioning Vottos value as a walk machine.
I can see a long-time broadcaster and a brain-dead columnist bemoaning OBP, but I can't believe a hitting instructor in a major league organization in *2003* would feel the same way.I came across a curious story written in Dayton, Ohio, back in 2003. Votto was just 20 then, and he was playing in Class A ball, and he wasnt playing very well at all. For the first month of the season, his batting average was less than .200. His big problem then seemed to be that he was trying to hit home runs. But there was also a sense that, yes, he was too patient. The Dayton hitting coach, Billy White, was asked by a reporter how he felt about young hitters working the count.
You want to work the count, but you dont want to work it just so you can get a walk, White said. And then, he added this: Ted Williams is dead and there are no Ted Williamses walking around here.
How are these attitudes allowed to persist in player development? How long does it take for professionals to understand what makes a team or a hitter successful?