Jackie Bradley Jr.’s hitting streak did not end because he got moved up in the batting order
The Red Sox outfielder's 29-game hitting streak is over because it's really hard to sustain such a feat, nothing more than that.
COMMENTARY
In a sports galaxy parallel to this one and yet so far, far away, Common Sense Takes rule the airwaves and the mantra “Opinion, Not Fact” is uttered as a sports radio host’s honest acknowledgment of his own absurdity before he says something amusingly stupid.
It is in that galaxy that the end of Jackie Bradley Jr.’s 29-game hitting is celebrated for the awesome and improbable achievement that it is. It is recognized, and without a single caterwauled note, that it’s difficult to get a hit in one major league game, let alone nearly 30 in a row.
Oh, yes, in that wonderful place, discussion of the streak will acknowledge that luck and timing are factors along with talent. If there is a lament, it’s that the two fly balls Bradley hammered Thursday night found gloves. Perhaps even batting average on balls in play will be briefly referenced by those who actually comprehend the concept.
It will not be suggested, in this amazing parallel galaxy, that moving Bradley up in the lineup to the leadoff spot is a reason the streak ended. Because the radio hosts having this version of the discussion – and their enormous audience of well-informed listeners who contribute to a smart, funny, engaging show every day – will recognize that Bradley hit in six different spots in the lineup during the streak and putting him first in the order might have even proven beneficial with a bonus turn at bat.
Good god, I want to go to there, to that world. I’m losing faith, though, and I’m beginning to think such a magical land of interesting sports conversation doesn’t actually exist. Nothing like it exists here, that’s for sure.
The takes will be flame-broiled through the day and smoldering into the night: They’ll proclaim that Bradley, the league’s leading hitter, isn’t comfortable at the top of the lineup, that Red Sox manager John Farrell assassinated his streak by moving him up when the usual leadoff hitter, Mookie Betts, got a break, that silly superstition should be the basis for a manager’s baseball decisions.
I endured it to various degrees on Twitter on Thursday night, tried to fight the good fight with the dual fists of sarcasm and logic …
It’s definitely simple. https://t.co/0wk1zSpS1m
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) May 27, 2016
Two! Huge sample. Also, my baseball IQ is *way* lower than Farrell’s. So is yours. I’m smart enough to know it. https://t.co/dN0p83jX9a
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) May 27, 2016
It doesn’t matter. Has nothing to do with it. Nothing. Not a thing. He hit the ball hard. They were caught. Happens. https://t.co/0laEKw26YP
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) May 27, 2016
Except for all the other times they moved him around the order and he got a hit. https://t.co/lHzroO3b9E
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) May 27, 2016
… and ended up with such a headache that I wished people would forget about Bradley and return to that usually popular every-fifth-day complaint – how much of a bum Clay Buchholz has become. Hey, at least that beef is valid. The stupid stuff is beating me down, though.
What truly bugs me about the howls over moving Bradley up in the order is that they completely dismiss his success, poise, talent, mental toughness and striking improvement in favor of that silly superstition. They imply that changing spots in the order – such a minor thing in general, and one that should matter to a hitter once at most in a game, when he begins the festivities in the first inning – is going to have some major mental affect on him that will hinder his ability to hit.
Bradley is a hell of a kid. He led his South Carolina team to a College World Series title as a sophomore, winning Most Outstanding Player honors while batting third in the lineup. He struggled as a junior due to an injury, got drafted by the Red Sox 40th overall because they knew the story, immediately became a top prospect, ripped through the minors, made the club out of camp in 2013 without having played a game in Triple A … and promptly struggled mightily.
The premature arrival was an enormous setback to his progress, and the recovery has been tough. He was almost always highly productive in the minors – even when he hit leadoff – and he had a monster August last season that restored some of his scuffed luster as an offensive player. But there were significant questions entering this season about whether he could be a consistent producer at baseball’s highest level.
He’s done so much this season to answer those concerns. It’s been a joy to watch, because he looks like what he was supposed to be back when he arrived in the big leagues prematurely. He’s not just a terrific outfielder and an ever-improving hitter. He’s confident and charismatic and appears to be a cornerstone, right there with Betts and Xander Bogaerts.
Suggesting he doesn’t have the mental toughness to move to leadoff in the damn batting order isn’t just an insult to his progress and poise – it’s an insult to the person. But we don’t need to look too deep into the culture of this sports galaxy to understand why it happens, do we?
I have 4 hours of radio to produce today. 🙂
— James Stewart ☝️ (@IAmJamesStewart) May 27, 2016
It’s a bummer the streak ended, even if it was a long shot to catch even one of the two best DiMaggio brothers. Here’s to remembering it well, and not the willful ignorance surrounding how it ended.
And hey, Bogaerts’s streak lives on. He’s hit in 19 straight games. Hopefully it can be prolonged for many more, though I must admit I hope Farrell bats him leadoff before it ends.
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