Announcer on Fullerton game just referenced "West Coast Offense" for Baseball
It's called Whitey Ball- for Whitey Herzog who used to manage the Cardinals, and then the three-run home run offense in baseball is called Earl Weaver ball.
Then you have what I prefer- which is a balanced attack- which is exactly what it sounds like. A blend of both power and speed. I don't think any manager has that type of offense named for them.
In baseball, offense is pretty much the same in general- your style just goes back to what kind of players you have on your team. Both small ball and playing for the three run homer "work" in baseball- and they probably always will, but there are pros and cons to both styles for sure- which again goes back to why I prefer a balanced attack. I would be willing to bet that if you asked most baseball coaches, they would prefer a balanced attack as well.
The bad thing about small ball- if you get behind early, it really takes you out of your game because there aren't many situations where it is ideal to run when you are behind. So, your left with a bunch of singles hitters trying to chip away at the lead. For example- our third game with Ole Miss. The other times when we played them, we got ahead and we were able to really pressure them and we created some runs and we took the series because of it. The last game, we got in a hole and it took us out of what we want to do. It seems to me that small ball lineups are prone to being overpowered at times by power pitchers.
Playing for a three run home run- the bad thing is you can't really control when you hit a home run, so it's almost feast or famine at times. Also, those lineups sometimes have a lot of free swingers, and that can lead to a lot of strikeouts sometimes. The good thing about it is, you can change the game at just about any time- which makes your team dangerous and that can put pressure on the opponent as well.
Balanced- you can do both- you can put pressure with speed, and if you have home run hitters- that pressure makes them even more dangerous because now that mistake pitch that is a double to a small ball team is maybe a three run home run. It also allows your team to be able to not be totally out of their element in a pitcher's duel where they may have to create a run to win, a situation where they are in a slugfest, or a situation where they are behind.
