This is why you always make sure there's an uneven number of people at the table during a baseball discussion.
So it doesn't end in a tie.
For instance, on the topic of whether or not to swing at a first pitch, I imagine the vote, more often than not, would be split.
On one side is the theory of being aggressive. On the other are those who preach patience.
Such a discussion is never-ending, of course -- and it certainly didn't come close to concluding on Monday when two first-pitch swings by the Tigers' Nick Castellanos played a major role in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tigers' first defeat of the season after six victories.
Down 2-0 in the top of the seventh in Pittsburgh, the Tigers caused serious trouble for the first time against Pirates' starter Gerrit Cole, who had blanked them on one hit and a walk until then.
Grinding out their at-bats, the Tigers loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs on a leadoff single by Miguel Cabrera, followed by a walk to J.D. Martinez and a single by Yoenis Cespedes.
All three hitters fought back from 0-2 counts. Cabrera spoiled a 0-2 strike by fouling it off before singling to right. Martinez fell behind 0-2, but drew a walk, and Cespedes came back from a 0-2 count with a 2-2 single that loaded the bases.
Those three hitters saw a total of 18 while generating the Tigers' first threat of the game.
But then reliever Jared Hughes replaced Cole -- and Castellanos hit the first pitch to short for the start of a 6-4-3 double play.
The Tigers scored a run on the play, to cut the Pirates' lead in half, but the DP was more of a rally breaker than extender.
That was not Castellanos' last chance to do some damage, though.
In the ninth, after the Tigers had narrowed the lead to a run, and with Cespedes representing the tying run on first with no outs, Castellanos again went after the first pitch -- this one from closer Mark Melancon -- and again hit into a double play.
The game ended when Victor Martinez struck out as a pinch-hitter with the bases empty.
"I thought about it," manager Brad Ausmus told FOX Sports Detroit's John Keating after the game when asked if he considered hitting Martinez for Castellanos, "but I decided to let Nick hit.
"He's a pretty darn good hitter. And he took some good swings today, too."
The DP's were not the only reasons the Tigers lost, of course. Cole was excellent as the Pirates' starter -- not only getting ahead in the count consistently, but making sure his first-pitch strikes mattered.
In their first six games, the Tigers were not disadvantaged by 0-1 counts. Their team batting average after first-pitch strikes was .370.
But Cole put his early strikes to good use -- as effective pitchers usually do. In the first six innings, the Tigers were 1-for-10 against him after falling behind 0-1, the only hit belonging to Castellanos.
The double plays didn't help, obviously. They seldom do -- and because both came on first-pitch swings, here we are, back at the table, discussing whether to be or not to be. . .more patient.
Here is something you might want to consider, though: Last year as a rookie, Castellanos hit .400 with eight (of his 11 home runs) occurring when he put the first pitch in play.
He was an aggressive, and effective hitter in such instances.
There were other situations in which he put the ball in play more often (such as 1-2 and 2-2), but he hit a combined .135 in those counts. So it's no wonder he still wants to pounce on a pitch as soon as he can.
Not only that, but Castellanos grounded into only one double play last year while putting a first pitch in play.
In that case, you really can't fault him for liking the percentages of something good happening.
It just so happened that in this game, something good didn't.
And now we're batting it back and forth whether a young hitter should be patient or aggressive.
That's fine -- as long as it is an 11-person discussion instead of 12.
If it's 12, or any other even number, you're probably looking at a hung jury when a vote is taken.
