Covering Bases

All your base are belong to us. Does anyone else remember this headclogging little phrase that was all over the web a few years ago?

Here are some definitions of base.

Finally, John Hill of the Cub Reporter has written one of the better articles I've read about on-base percentage and walks:

Contrary to an all too popular belief among sceptics, on-base percentage is not so much about walks as about the rate at which you succeed as a hitter in that singular purpose of not making an out. A walk may not be as valuable as a hit in most circumstances, especially with runners on base, but it is always preferable to an out. It is that sentiment that is glaringly absent in those infamous Baker comments, that realisation that when the presented with nothing to hit, it is far better to walk than to try and hit anyway, and to inevitably fail in doing so. Drawing that walk not only gets you on base, but it adds a minimum of four pitches, and often many more, to the opposing pitcher’s pitch count and is therefore a positive step towards a steady diet of middle relievers.

In the course of research for the article Hill made an ironic little discovery about players (I'll let you find it for yourselves) who have been managed by Dusty "Hit, Don't Walk" Baker.