I'm still crunching some numbers and manipulating some variables, but at a glance it appears that giving up 6 consecutive hits in an inning is not especially helpful to a team. The A's might want to stop trying that.
Anyhoo, there's something I've been pondering the last few days, so I thought I'd go ahead and throw it out here so you can talk about something else. There have been some discussions recently on AN about issues that ultimately relate to the "psychological" aspect of baseball--and to how real the psychological factors are, or should be. In Johnny Damon's season with the A's, why did he start hitting better when he moved to center field? Why has Kendall started hitting better since he moved into the leadoff spot? Why don't the A's play about as well on the road as they do at home? Why can't Arthur Rhodes or LaTroy Hawkins dominate the 9th inning like they can the 8th inning? Isn't it the same batters box and mound no matter where you field, when you hit, where you play, or when you pitch?
The answer is: No. The question is: Why not?
