It is a sign of the changing times in baseball. No, I’m not talking about the juiced balls flying over fences at a record pace. I’m not talking about fewer well-rounded ballplayers. I’m not even talking about soaring ticket prices. One of the biggest differences between baseball now and baseball 50 or 60 years ago is hustle. Fewer players are doing it, although people don’t seem to mind as much if they can still put up their monster numbers.
Unfortunately, it appears as though the higher the level of play, the less hustle there is to be found. In college and in the minor leagues, players give a full effort every time they play because they are trying to work themselves up the ladder. There is no level above the major leagues, causing some players to lack drive.
How many times have we seen this scenario? “A long fly ball. This one has a chance. It is high. It is far. It is — off the wall.” The hitter ends up with a single or double. More and more players are admiring the flights of their deep drives as opposed to running the ball out and getting the extra base for their team.
Even more unfortunate is the fact that some of the most frequent culprits are some of the game’s best superstars. The Red Sox’ Manny Ramirez has been caught walking out of the box on some seemingly routine ground balls. I can still recall a game in the spring of 2000 when Rickey Henderson was playing with the Mets. Henderson hit a deep fly ball to left and broke into an early home run trot only to see the ball hit off the wall. Rickey, the man who has more stolen bases and has maybe more speed than anyone who has ever played baseball, only ended up standing on first base.
It is a fact of baseball: you’re not always going to get a hit and you’re not always going catch the ball. It is those cases, when a player does not succeed, that can really open up some eyes. Some people notice when a player runs out the ball, however, it still remains one of the more overlooked elements of the game. While hustle may not make a big difference in one specific case, it will definitely show results over the course of a season and even a career. Hustle and effort lead to being more aggressive in a game, which may lead to base stealing, hitting and running or going from first to third. Aggressiveness puts pressure on the opposition and opens a lot of opportunities for a team.
Hustle is not an official statistic; but perhaps it should be. The same way an official scorer can determine if a misplay should be ruled a hit or an error; a scorer could determine the hustle of a player on each play. I would like to know how many times a batter ran out a ball he thought would be an easy out. I’d like to know how many times an outfielder did not run hard to get to a reachable ball.
I have heard some managers state that it is not always the result that matters, but instead, they are pleased as long as effort was shown. A player is not going to go five for five, make no errors and successfully steal every base over the course of a season. It just doesn’t happen. Players fail. In fact, baseball may be the only sport where offensively, a guy can fail seven times out of 10 and still be considered successful. I know I would have greater respect for a player who goes one for five and makes an error while displaying effort than a player who goes four-for-five because he was thrown out at first after not running out a play. I don’t understand it. Players should want to display the full extent of their abilities every time they play.
Someone I know and respect once told me that hard work will beat out natural ability every time. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have the talent of a Barry Bonds, but a lesser talented person can do pretty well if he works hard and puts forth a great amount of effort. Don’t get me wrong, not all big name players are guilty of being lazy. Alex Rodriguez, touted by many as the best player in the game, is probably also the most talented. But it is because he works hard and hustles all the time that he is phenomenal.
Well, this is it, the last time you’ll be hearing from me this year. I know everyone has put a great deal of effort into the paper and has hustled to bring it to you every day. When are all the ballplayers going to do the same?
Chris Ferruso, a freshman in the School of Education, has been a weekly sports columnist for the Daily Free Press.
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