Submitted by Bob Sloss, Apr 17, 2007 10:23

Regarding Tim Marchman's column today, titled "Baseball's Worst Cliche", I don't believe that Tim should bannish the use of "A Good Piece of Hitting" when he becomes King. While I concede that baseball announcers frequently confuse or misuse the phrase in their baseball vernacular, it still fits. When a batter works the count, like Chase Utley did for the Phillies in the hitting clinic he gave during the Met's recent season-opening homestand, fouling off pitches and creating a 12 pitch at bat for John Maine, THEN strokes a single, there is no doubt that that has to be characterized as "a good piece of hitting". BUT, as a single, it wasn't a "good hit". In today's allegedly juiced-ball, steroid-enhanced long-ball game, the skills of "small ball" are not as appreciated as they used to be. Working the count; moving the runner over; hit-and-run, the sac fly -- all the small ball tactics that require "a good piece of hitting" are lost in today's game that puts a premium on long ball. There is still room left for hitters and describing their craft and artisanship at the plate as "good pieces of hitting". Sometimes a homerun is a great hit, but not necessarily a "good piece of hitting" -- but we would probably be in violent agreement that it was "a good piece of slugging". Tim, there's still room in the broadcast booth for your "cliche". I don't want "good hitting/batting" to be an endangered species....

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