Not Even Trying

[striker42]

I might be dumb for starting this thread but the topic comes up a lot. Usually it's either someone complaining about the team or people mocking other posters with it.

This thread is to talk about the idea of players not trying. Often when the team is having a particularly bad night, we're tempted to say "They're not even trying." Others seem to take offense at the accusation of players not trying. So instead of talking about this while annoyed at a bad loss or in a disrespectful manner, lets try to have a rational debate on the subject.

Do you think there are games, or even AB's, where players don't try?

Personally, I believe there are times where players don't try but I think those times are rare. Usually we see it when poor makeup players get upset with the team they're playing for and essentially quit.

However, when people say a player or a team isn't even trying, I think it's usually hyperbole. It's a way of saying that the player isn't giving his best effort. And I think this happens far, far more often than actually not trying.

In any job there are days when you'll give everything you have and days where you're lucky to get anything done. The same is undoubtedly true of baseball players. There are games where they're going to run through walls and there are going to be games where they're content to play back and let balls come to them.

However, I do think that fans are usually too quick to ascribe struggles to a lack of effort. If an opposing pitcher has his A game and is just shutting you down or guys are just slumping, it's easy to get frustrated and say the players aren't trying.

So while often players are actually giving full effort, I do think there are plenty of games where it's completely fair to criticize a player's effort.