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Hamas hit on one big thing... the strikeout just doesn't matter anymore. Teams aren't afraid to do it. That's the one thing that set the Royals apart offensively, most everyone else hacks away. Very little concern over a "two strike" approach.
Another facet is that so many pitchers throw hard. So many teams can run reliever after reliever throwing 90+ heat out there. That has helped keeping hitting numbers down, but when you make contact it can go a long way.
You can't make sweeping generalizations off one season though. The last couple years, hitting 30 HR was a real accomplishment, and nobody was talking then. It's not like everyone started taking steroids at the same time. It's like 1987... the balls were flying out, HR totals were up and people wondered if the ball was juiced. Every year is it's own beast.
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