Originally Posted by
dawg80
Being aggressive on the base paths, or not, depends on the make-up of the team. And, it also depends on the opposition. Thru good scouting you should know that the leftfielder has a cannon for an arm, so don't press running on balls hit to left. By contrast the centerfielder is fast and gets to a lot of fly balls, but his arm is weak etc... But first you have to know your own team. Are your guys truly fast or not? And who is coming up in our batting order. It's better to play "station to station" if you have some big RBIs hitters coming up next.
Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver did very well playing it conservatively. He said "why give the other side another chance to get your guy out?" Your man gets a base hit, he's on base, so, I know, let's send him to second in a steal attempt just to give their catcher a chance to throw him out. Of course, Weaver built his team with a ton of power hitters and extra-base hits and HRs were the norm. Get on base and then wait to trot home on a 3-run homer!