Back to Basics

BY KEVIN KERNAN

There are two good reasons why football continues to dominate the sports scene with both the college and NFL playoffs in high gear.

Quarterbacks and action.

The quarterback is the football equivalent of the starting pitcher in baseball. Action speaks for itself.

Baseball fans want to see their starting pitcher go deep into games. Fans want to see their hitters create action and that means putting the ball in play. Back when baseball was America’s Game, starting pitchers and hitters got it done. You rooted for your starting pitcher to excel, just as football fans root for their quarterback to excel. You are completely invested in your QB, you believe if he believes and there was no better example of that than what happened 56 years ago to the day this past Sunday.

Joe Namath guaranteed that the underdog Jets were going to beat the Colts in the Super Bowl and followed up on that guarantee with a 16-7 victory on January 12, 1969.

Jets fans are still waiting for the action of a second championship.

The action in baseball starts with the hitter putting the ball in play.

Yet here we are today in 2025 in the start of the New Year and those in charge of baseball have severely compromised the two things that made baseball great – starting pitching and hitting – all in the name of analytics.

This is the year we want to see baseball get back to those two basic principles, starting pitching and hitting.

Back to Basics is the goal for 2025.

Back to Basics is a baseball movement to bring sanity back to the game.

Get back to basics in both the world of starting pitching and the world of hitting. Get away from the dead-end shortcuts the Nerds have created to build their boring game, you know: bullpen games, too many pitchers to count in a box score, starting pitchers out of the game way too early and hitters always swinging from their heels, even bottom of the order hitters. Way too many strikeouts. Only seven hitters batted over .300 this past season. So little action.

Make baseball fun again. Bring action back to baseball. Things can change for the better if the fans demand change.

In an effort to help the Nerds along the way – the truth is they really can’t be helped, it is their elitist ways or the highway – the following information was offered to me by two different baseball men who understand the game and understand pitching.

If Nerds don’t change, maybe owners will change the Nerds. Back to Basics is a baseball movement to bring sanity back to the game.

So here goes.

The Story this week spoke to a longtime baseball evaluator about the importance of throwing fastballs. Fastballs have fallen out of favor because it is all about tricking the hitter now for many of the Pitching Strategists currently in the game.

That’s how they get their jobs. That is the snake oil they are selling but here is an easy to understand breakdown on why throwing fastballs and commanding fastballs leads to pitching success, especially for starting pitchers. Too many teams have gone the cute route and gotten away from real pitching.

Too many pitching strategists have gotten away from a well-placed fastball, a fastball with a purpose, not just a heave and throw fastball to light up the radar gun or as one Hall of Fame pitcher told me this week: “Pitchers are too breaking ball happy.’’

A long-time talent evaluator explained why they are breaking ball happy.

“It’s their philosophy,’’ he told me. “Because the analysts see that breaking balls get more swings and misses. Which is true. What they don’t get is if you don’t use your fastball you will lose power on ALL your pitches. The Fastball is your arm maintenance. And you will lose command of the fastball too. Pitchers that lack fastball command struggle. But if you never played you will not know these human elements of player development and maintenance.’’

That is one reason why there are so many injuries because there is little fastball arm maintenance.

Again, baseball people know all this, Nerds don’t want to know. They are re-inventing the wheel, but it is a square wheel.

More fastball success will mean more starting pitching success. Here is a former pitching coach telling BallNine exactly why that is so important. Baseball people already know why it is important, but their voices have been muffled by those in charge. Those in charge don’t like to be questioned and that is why so many front offices have become echo chambers. You must agree with the Chief Nerd, all the other analysts are there simply to reinforce the Chief Nerd’s plan.

Listen to a real baseball man here.

“People don’t understand that pitching deep into the game, whether you win, lose or have a no-decision has a major positive effect on the team,’’ the former pitching coach told me. “Not to mention how it helps all the other pitchers, both starters and relievers. It helps rest relievers, so they are stronger throughout the year and as an example for starters to do the same. It is a team chemistry builder.’’

Yes, Nerds, there is such a thing as Team Chemistry. In all sports, not just baseball.

Since we are here, let’s also address why so many teams are bad baserunning teams. Not only do those in charge not emphasize baserunning like it once was emphasized and practiced, but they do not bring back former players who were fantastic baserunners to teach the troops. When I addressed that in the “Twin Killing’’ column on Thursday on how the Twins bring back veteran players only for window dressing, I heard from a number of former players who told me that is the case with so many teams.

Again, the failure is two-pronged, the Nerds don’t know, and they don’t want to know; they don’t want their authority questioned. The Dodgers did a fantastic job baserunning in the World Series, but look who their manager is: Dave Roberts, who was a great baserunner and stole one of the biggest bases in postseason history against the Yankees – of course – and I was there to witness that stolen base for the Red Sox in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.

Getting back to basics of all kinds is imperative for a team’s success. It happens every year in the World Series. Some people do understand the importance of basics, people like Bruce Bochy and Dave Roberts, the last two World Series winning managers.

Putting the ball in play is a no-brainer too, yet baseball has gotten away from that. Putting the ball in play creates action and it shows the defensive weaknesses of the opposing team. It’s a win-win situation.

One of the team chemistry reasons why the Padres had great success this past season and in the playoffs until their last two games against the Dodgers, was the arrival of Luis Arraez. He won his third straight batting title with his third straight team. His two former teams, the Twins and Marlins, finished in fourth and fifth place, by the way. Over the last three season Arraez is batting .328.

Arraez struck out only 29 times all season over 672 plate appearances and that helped make the other Padres hitters successful, including rookie Jackson Merrill. Putting the ball in play helped the team’s chemistry. Arraez hit .314, Merrill batted .292. Hitting really is contagious. Critics will point to Arraez’ WAR, I will point to Padres Winning. I will take a healthy Luis Arraez on my team anytime.

Ted Williams once said something that I found fascinating, and I believe it to be true. “There has always been a saying in baseball that you can’t make a hitter,’’ Williams explained. “But I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game.’’

A good hitter can help other hitters in the lineup improve. That was the case last year with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge with the Yankees. They fed off each other and once the Mets re-sign Pete Alonso, I think Soto will be a great help to Alonso and make him that much better.

When I covered the Padres and eight-time batting champion Tony Gwynn, hitters who came over to the team via trades and free agent signings would tell me that they became better hitters after talking to and watching Gwynn hit on a daily basis. In some ways that’s why I believe iPad baseball with a hitter rushing to his iPad to re-watch his at-bat is a bit much – and that time could be better spent just talking hitting in the dugout. Soto would always be talking hitting with teammates. If you just constantly run to the iPad without talking it out you run back your hitting mistakes on the screen and in your head, and like Yogi Berra famously said: “How can you think and hit at the same time?’’

My hope for the 2025 season, spring training is just around the corner, and you can tell by where the NFL playoffs stand, is that teams and players get back to basics. Pitchers command your fastball. Learn off that pitch. Keep your arm maintenance up by solid mechanics with the fastball. Starters figure out how to go deeper into games and don’t dare take a bow anymore if you survive four or five innings; push the envelope and hitters put the ball in play more often, make things happen, create action, and once you get on base become a better baserunner – a better ballplayer.

Bringing more action back to the game of baseball makes it baseball, take advantage of mistakes and always be on the lookout for 90 more feet.

Get back to basics in every way. Show the Nerds how baseball should be played.