This will be the first in a series that sets out to design a practical "small ball" lineup from current MLB rosters, a project I decided to do upon writing my "Bringing back the stolen base" column from a few days back, down just a bit on this blog.
Defining small ball is a challenge, but we have to lay out some ground rules to go about putting together the ultimate small ball team. The goal of the offense will be to win through the tenets of a small ball style of play that focuses on team speed, strong defense (especially up the middle), and an ability to advance runners.
Typical small ball hitters will have high stolen base totals (and success rates), low power numbers (we'll aim for only having two players with more than 20 HR / 550 AB power) and a low strikeout rate. A high walk rate is a plus, and don't let sabermetricians tell you that modern baseball theory put the value in OBP--players from Slidin' Billy Hamilton (whose last season was 1901) on have appreciated the value of the walk. A high walk rate is not at odds with a small ball approach!
I'll start going position-by-position with my next post. Feel free to suggest guys. Keep in mind that we're trying to make this a legit, reasonable team, not the best team ever, so we'll aim for a lineup that has a reasonable payroll and isn't stocked with all-stars.
Comment if you have any player suggestions, and I'll start putting together the selections with the next post.
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