Walk the Line

There’s been a spate of articles about Barry Bonds’ intentional walk rate. Most of them involve some variation of exasperated sputtering about why in God’s name managers would walk Bonds more often than Albert Pujols.

ESPN’s Jayson Stark does a better job with this than most others I’ve seen. He actually talked to some of the managers in question to find out why they’re still loath to pitch to Barry.

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle’s response was the most telling:

You know, if you're driven by numbers, and your only world is just numbers, it doesn't make any sense. But when you start putting experience into it, and you put past history into it, and you know the feeling when you get beat late by him, and you know the feeling when you go into your locker room and look at the 25 guys inside after you just got beat by Barry instead of by Moises Alou or whoever is hitting behind him, as great a hitter as they may be, it makes a lot more sense. Because it's a much different feeling [getting beat by someone else]. It's easier to accept.

Yes, it’s easier to explain to the guys on the team why Alou got the game-winning hit instead of Bonds. I’m willing to bet it’s easier to explain that to the press gaggle, too. Much like the media, managers have scripts they love to follow, even if it flies in the face of common sense. It’s called The Book, and managers may disregard it at their own peril…