Baseball Momentum Shift: Swinging On A 3-0 Count

Swinging Away on 3-0
Many managers let their contact hitters swing away on a three ball, no strike count. But the hitter, if given the green light on a 3-0 count, must execute and succeed. You see batters swinging on 3-0 in the major leagues and a lesser extent in youth baseball.




Why? If the batter is unsuccessful swinging on a 3-0 count, the result can be a significant momentum shift. You may not believe in baseball momentum, baseball karma, baseball superstition or even baseball voodoo. But I have been around long enough, and played at the highest level of amateur baseball, to know that baseball is a mental game and plays like this effect the attitudes of players.

Baseball Superstition
How many baseball superstitions are you aware of? How about players who won't step on the foul lines when entering or leaving the field. How about players who will eat the same food before every game. Others will wear the same undershirt for the entire year without washing it. Is this all a farce?

Well, I don't think so. These baseball superstitions have a lot to do with routine and consistency. Baseball is a game of failure ... think about it!
Getting a hit 3 times out of 10 at-bat is considered a great batting average, a winning percentage greater than .500 is considered excellent, and pitchers with a winning record (more wins than losses) is a key indicator of a pitcher's talent.

The Mental Effect of Swinging on a 3-0 Pitch
Now, back to swinging on a 3 ball 0 strike count. In the first game of the 2008 ALCS (American League Championship Series), between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, swinging on a 3-0 count changed the game.

It happened in the bottom of the eighth inning. The baseball scorecard showed the Rays losing 2-0. The first two batters got on base. The Red Sox then brought in a relief pitcher who went 3-0 on the first batter he faced.

Instead of taking the pitch, the batter swung and flied out to left field. The out did not even advance the runners. It was deflating to the Rays players. In fact, the next batter probably put too much pressure on himself to "pick up" the previous hitter; he grounded into a double play. This absolutely crushed the Rays mentally but was a great mental boost to the Red Sox. The Red Sox won the game 2-0.

The moral of the story is, if you do swing at a 3-0 count, and your team is losing, you must execute the play. Otherwise, it can change the whole momentum of the game. There is a great deal to be said about thismental side of baseball that people need to understand.

In fact, there are
great baseball ebooks that can help you learn more about the nuances in the game of baseball.

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