An Outside View: Defense wins championships

Defense wins championships. It is a simple fact of life in virtually every team sport. If a team can’t prevent the other team from scoring, they drastically reduce their chances of winning. You pick the sport. The rule applies whether we’re talking football, basketball, baseball, hockey, or soccer. The NFL’s Indianapolis Colts have a potent offense powered by Peyton Manning but their leaky defense can’t stop anyone and their coach gets fired because they can’t win. The San Antonio Spurs are world champions because of an unbelievably stingy defense. Have you ever heard of a hockey team winning the Stanley Cup without a great goalie? When you think Braves, you think Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. There’s an old axiom in baseball, “Hitting sells tickets but pitching and defense win championships.” Although we sometimes snicker at some of the old sayings, this one isn’t to be laughed at. It was as true 100 years ago as it is today. And it is true whether we are talking about the kids at Bower Field playing in the Mickey Mantle League, the Eagles at Seymour High School, or the big leaguers who get paid millions of dollars. Or is it? As with anything, there are those who will disagree with this old baseball belief that has been passed down from generation to generation. I had one high school coach tell me that it simply wasn’t true for high school ball. His theory was that high school fields aren’t always in the best condition and that both teams are going to make errors. He said that you must hit to win on the high school level where defense apparently takes a backseat to offense. It may be a minority point of view but it does have some merit. The TSSAA State Baseball Tournament is a perfect case study. Look at all of the games in the Spring Fling and you can make an argument either way. Take the Seymour Eagles for example. The birds committed 5 errors in their opening game and were handily beaten by Marshall County. In the next two outings, the Eagles made no errors and they won, their first being a one run affair where a single miscue could have cost the blue and gold a win. In their final appearance, they returned to Game 1 form and again committed 5 errors and were sent home with their second tournament defeat. In all, there were 42 games played in the public school divisions of the state tournament and the team that made more errors won only 25% of the time. On the surface, all of this would seem to prove that the old axiom still rings true. But you know what they say about stats. “Figures lie and liars figure.” My coach friend could just as easily argue that the team that got more hits won most of the games and he would be right. I would respond that the teams that had the better pitching, which is part of the defense, won more often and I would be right. He could counter by pointing to the fact Davidson Academy won the Class A Championship and did not commit fewer errors than their opponents in a single game. I would argue that in the tight ballgames, defense was still the difference. Just in general principle, he would argue that it does no good to have great pitching and great defense and lose 2-1. I would counter that what good is it to hit the ball great but lose 8-7? We would both be right. Still, I believe that the old baseball axiom is true, even in high school ball, but I am willing to call this little debate a stalemate. I can’t deny that his position gains credence because of what is going on in youth baseball. Well-meaning dads coach these youth league teams and most just don’t know enough about the game to teach the basics of fielding and throwing. This isn’t a slam on dads who coach, because where would baseball be without them? But teaching fundamentals of defense takes time, patience, and knowledge. It is much easier to put the guys out on the field and do two hours of batting practice. Defense can be taught. You don’t have to be a great athlete to be able to catch and throw a baseball. You just have to work hard and learn the proper techniques. Without that foundation of good fundamentals, players reach high school without good defensive skills. Coaches find themselves looking for the nine best hitters rather than the nine best ballplayers. They then try to find a place for them to play. They just hope that their nine hitters will out hit the other team’s nine hitters. The growing emphasis on offense has undoubtedly hurt the overall game of baseball. If the old axiom isn’t true, it should be.