Today’s Up at Bat post comes to us from Vince over at www.soxandpinstripes.net, a blog specializing in one of the most widely discussed sports rivalries ever. See what Vince has to say about the Yankees as they come up to bat this season:

The New York Yankees, both defending champions and offensive juggernauts, have been defined by a smothering lineup and an innate ability to reach base. There’s no better musical fit to the personality of this franchise than Aerosmith and Run DMC’s 1986 classic, Walk this Way.

In the early 90’s the Yankees had a collection of front office personnel on the cutting edge of the next “big thing” in Major League Baseball. They were the first General Management to concentrate specifically on the ability to reach base, figuring out before any other team that the more base runners per game, the better chance of runs scoring and the more likely an outcome of a victory. The Yankees’ freakish talent for drawing a base on balls has helped lead them to five world championships in the past 15 years, and left opposing pitchers exhausted, frustrated, and in John Smoltz’s case, banished from the American League altogether.

Consider this: New York drew over 25,000 pitches in their championship season last year (and walked 663 times, both tops among MLB teams.) After accomplishing this feat, GM, Brian Cashman, went out and acquired the contract of Nick Johnson, owner of the third highest On Base Percentage behind both league MVP’s, and reaching such elite levels mostly through the art of drawing a walk (he hit .291 in 2009 but drew 99 BB in less than 500 at bats.)

Like Johnson, all of the Yankees follow a similar philosophy (six of the nine regulars in the lineup have drawn at least 90 walks in a single season before) and it will be a key element for the most patient team in baseball again in 2010. So far, the Yankees are third in MLB with 82 free passes in just 17 games. If they finish in the top three again in the same season they try to repeat as World Champions, it won’t be surprising. The Yankees have finished in the top three for no contact trips to first in seven of the past eight seasons. The Bronx Bombers will spend a lot of time paying players, hitting homers, and scoring runs, but don’t forget one thing; the key to their success is to walk, not run.

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