MLB on FOX: Allow me to summarize

The greatest thing that a baseball player can do is advance the runner. Not doubles, not homeruns, not stolen bases. Nothing is better than trading an out for a base. Nothing.

Here's the thing: there isn't a single objective study that backs up this idea. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I've read enough geek books to know that teams, in the aggregate, score more runs in an inning with no outs and a runner on first than one out and a runner on second.

Outs are the most valuable thing in baseball. Period. There are no productive outs, there are only outs.