Berkman is off to a slow start, but is it really a slump, or is it simply random fluctuation? I dont know the answer to this question, but random fluctuation for hitters in baseball can never be ruled out.

Heres a very simple hypothetical. I used the random number generator in MS Excel to generate 120 random numbers of 1-100. A fictional .300 hitter would receive a hit on numbers 1-30, while he would make an out on numbers 31-100. I broke the 120 random numbers in to 4 groups of 30 numbers. In the first batch of 30, our fictional .300 hitter collected 13 hits for a batting average of .433. In the second batch, he collected only 5 hits for an average of .167. He followed that with another batch of 5 hits for another .167 average. In the final batch, he hit .370. For the entire batch of 120, he hit .283.

Right now Berkman is hitting .207 through 58 at bats. Thats pretty similar to the middle two segments in which our fictional hitter hit .167 over 60 at bats. Once again, I dont know if Berkman's performance is really a slump or is simply a function of random fluctuation. Either way, its important to remember that during the course of a season there will significant stretches when even a good hitter is not getting the hits to fall and it may not be because hes having trouble "seeing the ball.

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H-Town Grooves
A blog about music, sports, and other musings from Houston, Texas.