You're right. Strikeouts are the way to go, man! You wont win games if you move runners! Sorry for the sarcasm, but I don't see why "productive outs" are so shunned, even mocked. How is moving the runner along a bad thing? Obviously the batter should try to reach base safely, but if he does make an out wouldn't you much rather have him move any baserunners while he does? it's the effort of trying to make a productive out. of course you'd rather make a productive out than an unproductive out, but framing it that way doesn't tell the story. is making a productive out better than hitting the ball hard into the gap and scoring all 3 runners on base? when you limit your outcomes, you limit your team's production.