Well, let me tell you somethin’ about this baseball thing, and this whole “total bases” business. It’s simpler than folks make it out to be. This whole thing about “do walks count as total bases”, I heard folks talkin’ ’bout it down at the market. Sounds like a load of hogwash to me.
Now, I ain’t no expert, but I seen a game or two in my day. And what I seen is this: you gotta hit that ball to get them bases. You gotta smack it good. That’s the long and short of it. Some folks say no to “do walks count as total bases”.
They got all these fancy words, like “single,” “double,” “triple,” and “home run.” Sounds like a bunch of gibberish, but it’s easy enough. If you hit the ball and run to one base, that’s a single. Run to two, that’s a double. Three, that’s a triple. And if you hit that sucker clean outta the park, well, that’s a home run, and you just trot around all them bases.
- Single – you get one base.
- Double – you get two bases.
- Triple – you get three.
- Home run – you get all four!
Total bases, see, that’s just how many of them bases you get from hittin’ the ball. You hit a single, you get one base. You hit a double, you get two. You get the picture. A home run? You get four of them total bases. Easy as pie. It’s about how far you run after smackin’ that ball.
Now, this “walk” thing… that’s when the fella throwin’ the ball, the pitcher, he can’t seem to throw it right. He throws it four times, and they’re all bad, so the batter, he just gets to walk to first base. He don’t even gotta hit the ball. Now does that make sense to give that man a base?
So, they’re sayin’ a walk gets you to the base, yeah, that’s true enough. But does it count towards them total bases? Well, I reckon it shouldn’t. You didn’t hit that ball, did ya? You just stood there. Some fancy word, “OBP”, means how many times a guy gets on base. Could be a hit, could be a walk, could be he got hit by the ball. But that’s different than the total bases.
They got all these rules and numbers. Makes my head spin. But the gist of it is, total bases is about hittin’ that ball. Walks ain’t hits. And some betting thing, “prop bet” they call it. That’s if you’re betting on how many bases a guy gets. You better remember that walks don’t count there either.
They say a walk is as good as a hit. Well, maybe for some things, but not for total bases. You ain’t earned it if you ain’t hit it. If you get those total bases, you better be earnin’ ’em.
I remember back in the day, we didn’t have all these fancy rules. We just played ball. Hit the ball, run the bases. Simple as that. Now they got all these numbers and stats. It’s all too much if you ask me.
You see these young fellas now, they’re always lookin’ at their numbers. Batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, which uses those total bases. Back in my day, we just played for the love of the game. These young’uns think too much about the “do walks count as total bases”.
So, to answer that question, “do walks count as total bases?” Well, from what I gather, the answer is a big, fat no. You gotta earn them bases by hittin’ that ball. Walks are just a free pass, and they don’t count for much in the grand scheme of things when you’re talkin’ about total bases. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
Remember, this is about hittin’ that ball, that’s the main thing. These total bases and all of that. Don’t let those things make you confused. It’s simple, they just make it sound hard. Walks? They’re alright, but they ain’t gettin’ you them total bases. You gotta swing that bat!
