The Sucking Vortex of Misconception

Broadcasting sports is hard work that can be done well by about one one-thousandth of one percent of those who think they can do it. Broadcasters have to talk for three hours, often extemporaneously about nothing. So it's not surprising or all that noteworthy when they say silly things.

That's the preface to the deconstruction of an incredibly silly comment on tonight's TBS broadcast of the Rays and White Sox. It's hysterical that people actually believe blatant fallacies like this one.

Harold Reynolds, whose analysis of the tactics and mechanics of the game I find insightful, mentioned that Jason Bartlett was like a second lead-off hitter in the nine hole. Since he bats before the #1 spot after the first inning, Reynolds noted, he can give you that leadoff quality in a 9-1-2 hitting arrangement.

Putting aside that Jason Bartlett made an out more than 67% of the time this year, which is detrimental to a team from a "leadoff" position, Reynolds' assertion is nonetheless patently absurd. If you need a "leadoff" hitter to bat before the #1 spot, why don't you need a leadoff hitter to bat before the #9 spot for those 8-9-1 hitting arrangements? And the same for the #7 spot and so on down the line?

The simple truth is that your best hitters bat early in the lineup because they get more at-bats that way. And since you want guys on base when your power hitters are at the plate, you put a couple of high on-base guys up before them. No matter how a lineup is constructed, a bad hitter must precede a good hitter in the lineup at some point, unless your team is the Lake Wobegone Ice Fishermen, where every player is above average.

Aside: many teams have fallen into the sucking vortex of misconception that the leadoff hitter should burn up the basepaths, so they bat a low-OBP speedster in the top spot. Those teams are giving away games. Jason Giambi and his 120 walks would be a better leadoff choice than Juan Pierre or even Alfonso Soriano. When ARod goes deep, who cares how many green lights it takes Giambi to cross the street?

Jason Bartlett bats ninth because Jason Bartlett hits like a girl, and Joe Maddon would like him to bat as rarely as possible while still staffing the important shortstop position.