Circling the Bases: Slumping Sluggers

My computer sucks flip-flops. I've literally sat here for the last 28 minutes trying to get this flipping thing to work. I stroked it. I spoke niceties to it. I yelled at it. I almost tossed it out the window. Tell me you don't know the frustration I'm talking about. A baseball player who might even be more frustrated right now is Josh Hamilton. I know he's on pace to hit nearly 50 homers with more than 130 RBIs and 100 runs, so how could he be upset? Have you seen the pathetic at-bats he's been tossing up there of late? He's probably even more frustrated than I am with my computer. Hamilton is hitting .172 in July with a .587 OPS. In June he hit .223 with a .754 OPS. To compare, Hamilton had a .781 SLG in May. Moreover, in his last 40 games Hamilton is hitting .204 with a .289 OBP and a .401 SLG. His batting average for the year is .293, higher than his OBP the past quarter of the season. One of his biggest issues has been his strikeout rate, as he has a Mark Reynolds-like 52 in 152 a

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