From Brilliant Reader Matt.

?I dont believe in that on-base percentage (stuff). Thats overrated to me. If you get hits, youll be on base. Thats what its about.

- Brandon Phillips

Heres what I love about this quote: Its only three sentences and yet it takes a most wonderful stroll through Logic Park. I believe if you Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Mapped those three sentences, it would go like so:

Starting point.

1. I dont believe in on base percentage. 1.7 miles.2. The thing is measures ? getting on base ? is overrated. 22.4 miles.3. I believe that if you get hits, you will get on base. 12.6 miles.4. And getting on base with hits is what its all about. 2.4 miles.

Destination.

Of course, what he is saying but not saying is that WALKS are overrated ? this, in large part, because Brandon Phillips doesnt walk. The weird thing is there are many people who believe that walks are overrated even though baseballs most basic statistic ? batting average ? does not even consider walks.

The thing you will often hear from people who dislike walks is that walks cannot do what singles can do. You cannot drive a runner in with a walk unless the bases are loaded. You cannot move a runner from first to third with a walk. And so on.

And this is true ? in many situations a walk is not as good as a hit. Of course, in many other situations a walk is exactly as good as a hit.*

*In a certain book that is coming out, the author recounts what would be Joe Morgans perfect run. It would go like so: Morgan would fight and claw for a walk. Then he would steal second. Then he would steal third. And then would score on a short fly ball. Morgan, the player, firmly believed that he could destroy a pitchers mental well-being more with a run that did not require a single hit than with a long home run. The walk was one of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds great weapons.

And, more to the point, in just about every situation a walk is better than an out*.

*I guess a sac fly with a the score tied in the bottom of the ninth would be better than a walk ? probably a few other situations like that.

And this is exactly why Brandon Phillips quote is silly. He knows getting on base is what its all about ? but he thinks that the proper way to get on base is to get hits. Thats his opinion, and thats his style, and thats why he had a .312 on-base percentage last year. This doesnt make him a bad player ? hes quite a good player. He plays excellent second base defense, he hits with some power, he will steal you a base.

But it very clearly makes him less valuable than he could be with, say, 20 more walks instead of outs per year. Phillips hit a ludicrous .182 on 3-1 counts last year. Thats almost impossible for a good player to do ? That could be in part because hes so eager to get on base the manly way.

* * *

Here, for the record, are those six double plays the Royals hit into against Cleveland on Tuesday:

3rd inning, nobody out, man on first: David DeJesus grounded to second, 4-6-3.

4th inning. nobody out, men on first and second: Alberto Callaspo grounded to third, 5-4-3.

5th inning, nobody out, man on first: Coco Crisp grounded to short, 6-4-3.*

*Crisp is REALLY fast. I have been watching him for years, but only by watching him every day have I come to appreciate just how fast he really is. Hes not a good base stealer, but he makes every play close at first and he can fly in the outfield. Its hard to double him up.

6th inning, one out, man on first: Mark Teahen grounded to second, 4-6-3.

7th inning, one out, bases loaded: Coco Crisp grounded to third, 5-4-3*.

*Well, OK, apparently not that fast.

8th inning, one out, man on first: Miguel Olivo grounded back to pitcher, 1-6-3.

* * *

Well, the Seattle Mariners have NINE sacrifice bunts in 14 games ? that would put them on pace for more than 100 sacrifices this season. For the record, the Minnesota Twins led the American League last year with 52 sacrifice hits.

The last American League team to even have more than 70 sacrifice hits in a season was the 1993 Boston Red Sox with 80. Butch Hobson managed that team ? and that was one bunting ballclub. John Valentin (16), Tony Pena (13) and Billy Hatcher (11) all were in the Top 10 in sacrifices.

The last American League team to actually top 100 sacrifices in a season was the 1982 California Angels, managed by the bunting man himself, Gene Mauch. Tim Foli alone had 26 sacrifice hits that year, and Bob Boone added 23 more. Those Angels won 93 games and won the American League West.

Even though I mostly despise the sacrifice bunt in the American League, and even though I tend to think that giving away that many outs will hurt the Mariners in the long run, I have to admit I like this. Its bold. One of my key beliefs in sports is that its more important to have A PLAN than it is to have A GOOD PLAN. In other words, I think there are many different ways to win if you can get players to follow the blueprint and believe in the direction and execute at a high level. The Seattle Mariners were horrendous last year. Most people ? including me ? figured they would be horrendous this year. But they have gotten off to a nice start by playing insane outfield defense and getting absurd pitching from Jarrod Washburn and manufacturing runs.

Who am I to say it cant work for the whole year?

* * *

How my preseason award winners are doing (so far):

American League MVP: Grady SizemoreNumbers: 259/.386/.603, 5 homers, 14 RBIs, 14 runs, 2 steals.Thought: Please move him down in the order. Please? Could you? Please please?

American League Cy Young: Zack GreinkeNumbers: 3-0, 0.00 ERA, 26 strikeouts in 20 innings. 5 walks.Thought: Something exciting might be coming up with Zack. Details to follow.

National League MVP: Carlos BeltranNumbers: .356/.456/.458, 1 homer, 8 RBIs, 4 runs, 0 stolen bases.Thought: Hes like the anti-Grady ? can we please move him up from fifth in the order? Please?

National League Cy Young: Johan SantanaNumbers: 2-1, 0.46 ERA, 27 strikeouts in 19 innings. 5 walks.Thought: Already he has lost a game where he went 7 innings and did not give up an earned run. I have pointed this out already, but last year the Mets lost TEN GAMES where Santana had a quality start.

Newstex ID: KC-3053-34325853