As American As Baseball

Happy 4th of July!

It's kind of weird having the holiday in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday.  Robyn and I have the day off from school and classes, and we're spending the afternoon loafing about our apartment.  Robyn is making one of her trademarked delicious pies, and I am alternating between blogging and working on a research project involving the implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

This is not what she will be making, but this is her splendid American Apple Pie!

But I feel like I have been being a bit of a downer lately, what with all of the talk about the sad state of public education.  So, in the honor of the Fourth of July and of America, I want to talk about the one thing as American as apple pie: baseball.

I think that my new favorite player is the White Sox DH, Adam Dunn.  Dunn is one of three ChiSox to be selected for this year's All-Star Game, along with pitcher Chris Sale and 1st baseman Paul Konerko.  Dunn is also coming off of what, when measured some ways, was the worst season any baseball player has ever had, in which he hit .159 with an on base percentage of .292 and a slugging percentage of .277, with 177 strike outs and only 11 home runs.

Obviously, the big man is doing better this year.  But what I absolutely love is the fact that he is an All-Star with a batting average of .216, the worst of any starter for the White Sox.  So why is he an All-Star?  Well, his line this year is .216/.366/.525 .   That means that his slugging percentage is almost double what it was last year.  Dunn is no where near the top 100 in the AL in batting, but he is 17th in OBP, 14th in slugging, and 12th in OPS.  Why is this?  Well, because Dunn leads the AL in walks with 66, and is tied for second in homers, with 25.

But here's my favorite thing about Dunn.  Sure, he's 1st in walks and 2nd in homers.  That's great.  But he is also 1st in another category: strikeouts.  The man has 126 K's, which is more than twenty more the second place in AL.  In fact, Dunn is on pace to shatter the MLB record for strike outs, which is currently 223, set by Mark Reynolds in 2009.  If Dunn continues his pace, he'll have 50 HRs, which is great, but he will also have 252 strike outs.  This is not new territory for Dunn; he currently holds the #5, #10, and #11 spots on all-time strike outs per season.  But this year could be something special.

And that's why I love the guy:  He is going to swing at that ball.  He has had 278 official at bats.  126 have been strike outs.  25 have been home runs.  With him, it is going to be all or nothing.

Or a walk.  Which is good, too.