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Online now: 7 members: 1tufout, Beanz, EvilEmpire45, Raffy, baseballguy8, dillydilly, lynahp; 13 anonymousDiscussion: Mendoza Line
| Posted | Discussion |
| Feb. 29 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | I am just curious-what would a reasonable 'Mendoza Line' be in slow pitch softball. Does anyone have a personal Mendoza Line-an average that he shoots for each and every tourney? Or are there feelings among coaches about what their Mendoza Line is for keeping a guy in the lineup or on the team. In baseball, if memory serves-.200 was the Mendoza Line and was referring to a shortstop who hit about that for his career and it was debated whether he could contribute enough without the offense, no matter how good he was defensively. And, is your Mendoza Line a bit more forgiving if the guy hits for power, but hit for a low average? Thanks. |
| Feb. 29 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Also, is there a Mendoza Line for a player that is only a DH? Would that be higher than if he was a position player? What about different positions, like between a pitcher and a first baseman? Good pitchers are in big demand-would their Mendoza Line be lower? |
| Feb. 29 chico senior Men's 60 134 posts | I still play softball with 3 guys I played with in the 70's with the Ridgemen. We were lucky enough to win the ASA class A state championships for California in 1977 and 1978. At that time our team goal was for everyone to hit at least .500 . Wow - how things have changed. Now everyone strives to hit at least .700 . I have always felt that unless you are a knock-me-dead defensive player that you are hurting the team to hit below that number if you hope to compete at the higher levels. Just my opinion. |
| Feb. 29 16wood Men's 65 77 posts | One problem with team batting averages is that half the guys are always below it... (-: I agree that .700 is the 'new .500' and that certain defensive players can still contribute a lot even when hitting .650 (or less)... the primary idea is to out score the other team, whether this is due to holding them down, scoring 7 runs every inning or a combination. Certainly, a DH should hit well above the team ob% or drive in lots of runs. The other element is the playing conditions... wind blowing in usually produces fewer runs than the opposite. If so, a lower team ob% can be expected. Also, comparing the ob% of the gazelles to that of the oxen is a misguided comparison. Having stated all of this, I want each of our players to aim for 700+ and to work hard at this between tourneys... but if everyone hits 700 and we don't win it's deemed a failure. We obviously didn't do enough things well... BW |
| Feb. 29 DieselDan Men's 75 602 posts | This discussion is a spin off of the other one about MVP. For me, if a player hits below 700, but pinch runs 4/5 times a game; scores runs no one else would get; prevents double plays on balls to the IF; cuts off balls in the gaps (if an OF); gets to grounders through the IF quickly; gets to grounders as an IF that others are not quick enough to or can't bend over; etc., then they are an asset to the team and should be considered for a patch or team MVP as well. |
| Feb. 29 B94 Men's 50 138 posts | The other factor that has to be considered here is the level of play - big difference hitting .700 in M+ as opposed to hitting .700 in AA. By no means am I trying to insult anyone but the caliber of the defense plays a factor into batting average and on base percentage. |
| Feb. 29 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | Webbie, an interesting topic. I think I side with DieselDan on this one. For teams that have a limited geographic pool of talent, or older teams where the number of able players is reduced, there are many factors other than batting average that make a player vital to the team's success. Also, not every team is keeping players with the goal of being a champion at the Major Plus level. Most teams, I suspect, stay together for reasons beyond championships. I loved it when my team won Vegas, but that wasn't our ultimate goal. We just wanted to play competitively in all the other 20 tournaments we were in that year. We would have had a fun and satisfying season without winning it all. I have been on teams so desperate for a competent shortstop we would have accepted one even if he hit .300! And we rode a power hitter to a couple of tournament championships even though his batting average was one of the lowest on the team (too many long fly outs). We have also kept a pitcher with a low batting average because of his success in limiting opposing teams. And I played one year on a team with a left center fielder who was so good he covered for weak, slow fielders in left and right center. Lots of things to consider beyond batting average. |
