And just think about it - Alonso has the highest BA of all the Mets in the regular lineup. Plus a ton of RBI. If Pete was only chasing homers, I bet he’d strike out a whole lot more. But you’re definitely right about Klu. Way under the radar.
Interesting comparison. Although Soto has struck out 137 times this year. That's more than KLU struck out in 1953, 1954 and 1955 combined, while hitting more homers in 2 of those 3 years than Soto's ever hit in a season.
But nowadays, that’s not perceived as a bad strikeout ratio for a power hitter. Especially because Soto typically draws a lot of walks. It’s amazing how analytics has seemingly made making contact a bad thing.
I think the acceptance by baseball management of a high strikeout to home run ratio is ruining the game. It makes the whole game less entertaining because there are so few balls put into play. And if a guy like KLU could hit for both power and average and not strikeout much, others could do it. KLU should be celebrated and be the model for the future, not stuffed away in history and this great achievement be almost completely unknown.
And just think about it - Alonso has the highest BA of all the Mets in the regular lineup. Plus a ton of RBI. If Pete was only chasing homers, I bet he’d strike out a whole lot more. But you’re definitely right about Klu. Way under the radar.
The Juan Soto of his day. Possibly even better…imagine what that contract would have been worth now!
Interesting comparison. Although Soto has struck out 137 times this year. That's more than KLU struck out in 1953, 1954 and 1955 combined, while hitting more homers in 2 of those 3 years than Soto's ever hit in a season.
But nowadays, that’s not perceived as a bad strikeout ratio for a power hitter. Especially because Soto typically draws a lot of walks. It’s amazing how analytics has seemingly made making contact a bad thing.
I think the acceptance by baseball management of a high strikeout to home run ratio is ruining the game. It makes the whole game less entertaining because there are so few balls put into play. And if a guy like KLU could hit for both power and average and not strikeout much, others could do it. KLU should be celebrated and be the model for the future, not stuffed away in history and this great achievement be almost completely unknown.