Is a walk as good as a hit? In many situations, yes. Leading off an inning, for instance, or with the bases loaded when a run is forced across the plate.
But for some unknown reason, walks don’t count in the compilation of total bases, a statistic that is the most accurate index of offensive production. It’s a mistake that should be corrected.
In figuring total bases, the batter is credited with four points for a home run, three points for a triple, two for a double, one for a single. Walks are ignored.
“It’s a statistic statisticians know about,” says Don Zminda of Stats Inc. “When I begin thinking of the Most Valuable Player awards, the first thing I do is check total bases.”
This is brought to mind because Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies has accumulated 401 total bases, the most in the National League since Milwaukee’s Hank Aaron got 400 in 1959 (Jim Rice had 406 for Boston in 1978). Walker has 48 home runs, four triples, 45 doubles and 107 singles.
Unlike batting averages, where the batter receives as much credit for each hit whether it’s a single or a home run, total bases reflect the entire offensive package. Certainly, 200 singles is an admirable achievement but it doesn’t compare with 100 singles and an additional 100 extra-base hits.
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I never have understood why walks are excluded and have been aware of this omission since a long-ago White Sox game in Baltimore. Boog Powell, the Orioles’ slugger, drew four walks, one of which advanced the winning run to second base. A lesser Baltimore player had a single in four at-bats and properly was credited with one total base. For Powell, it was a zero.
On the playgrounds, in encouraging a teammate to reach base, schoolboys often shout, “A walk is as good as a hit!”
Admittedly, some walks are not of consequence. Still, they can be and often are a crucial part of the game. With the bases empty, when there is no chance to drive in a run or advance a runner, a walk accomplishes the same as a hit: The batter reaches base.
Ray Berres, the former White Sox pitching coach who is recovering from a hip operation at his home in Twin Lakes, Wis., insists there are times when a walk should be preferred.
“It makes the pitcher throw more pitches,” Berres explains. “And if it’s a hot, muggy day, the more he pitches, the weaker he gets.”
Berres also says he is puzzled.
“If a walk doesn’t count, why is the pitcher charged with an earned run?
“Do you remember George Stallings? He was the manager of the 1914 miracle Boston Braves.
“When he was on his deathbed, he was asked, `What killed you, George?’ And he said, `The base on balls.’ “
Another old-timer, Bill Rigney, a longtime player who also managed four major-league clubs, refuses to believe a walk isn’t credited in the total bases.
“I always assumed they were,” Rigney says. “Matter of fact, a batter has to work just as hard getting a base on balls as he does getting a hit. What if a guy leads off the ninth with a walk? I’d say that’s pretty important. Or if he walks with the bases loaded? The run scores. Game over. It’s a bad rule. They should change it.”
Walker is the 23rd player and the fourth since World War II to reach the 400 total-bases plateau. The major-league record is held by–who else?–Babe Ruth, with 457 in 1921. The National League record was set by Rogers Hornsby, 450 in 1922.
So far as I know, precise stats on total bases, walks included, haven’t been tabulated. But there is no question Ruth and Ted Williams, among others, would have had much bigger numbers if walks were counted.
Ruth holds the one-season record for walks with 170 in 1923. Williams has the next three highest totals, 162 in ’47 and ’49 and 156 in ’46. Ruth and Williams are the only players to draw more than 2,000 walks. But guess who’s third on the all-time list? None other than Joe Morgan, the former All-Star second baseman.
And, of course, this offering wouldn’t be complete without mention of Frank Thomas of the White Sox, the best hitter in the last half-century. If walks counted, Thomas’ total bases would go through the roof.