The Dwindling Chances of Seeing a Triple
The game before us is forever changing, because it has to be. Even when there aren’t abrupt changes in rules or dimensions or make of the baseball, there are changes in strategies and changes in the player pool. Those changes that do take place tend to be subtle, gradual, and we’re all well aware of certain league-wide trends.
We know that strikeouts are higher than they’ve ever been. This past season, the strikeout rate also rose just one-tenth of one percentage point. We know that we’re seeing a little less bunting these days, and we know that offense is down relative to what it was in what many choose to refer to as the Steroid Era. We know that, for whatever reason, there are more hard-throwing pitchers, coming out of seemingly every bullpen and sometimes even starting games. Fewer people might be aware of the trend with triples. And fewer still might be aware of what just happened in 2013.