Andy, to be fair, I think allentown and Austinfan are right about this. Time and time again in the "bad old days" I would read game story comments from coaches about position players, recommending aggressiveness and advising hitters to go outside of the strike zone to knock in runs. I remember it because it frustrated me so much. Sometimes they would talk about being aggressive early in the count, or jumping on the first pitch, or whatever, but it clearly WAS an organizational philosophy. They treated players who took walks like there was something wrong with their competitiveness. Bobby Abreu, Michael Bourne, Domonic Brown, Pat Burrell and others were criticized for walking too much, and guys like Jason Michaels, Aaron Rowand, and Doug Glanville were praised for their aggressive approach.
I do think there has been a change in organizational philosophy, perhaps instigated by the analytics acceptance.
