Notice: Trying to get property 'display_name' of non-object in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/wordpress-seo/src/generators/schema/article.php on line 52
keyboard_arrow_uptop

Ben and Sam answer listener emails about outfielders, strikeouts, command vs. control, and more.

Download Here (42 MB; 45:29)
RSS Feed
iTunes Feed (Please rate and review us!)
Facebook Group
Email Us podcast@baseballprospectus.com
Sponsor Us

Thank you for reading

This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.

Subscribe now
You need to be logged in to comment. Login or Subscribe
Dutchleaguer
8/20
"Command and control" (as one phrase) is actually a military term. It's a little vague but it's something like: a measure of the effectiveness of a commander to utilize the full capacity of his forces and, conversely, those forces' ability to stay in line. It's widely used among military and security analysts.

My bet would be that the military phrase came first and that it slowly seeped into baseball language -- especially if baseball was using "command" first, and then started adding "control". If I had to guess, I'd say the phrase gained traction in military circle in the 1980s.

If this is right it's a new twist on my pet peeve about the way the military has become so tied up in baseball.