Small ball for small minds.

From SABR bio of Earle Combs:

When (Earle) Combs did report to the Yankees, Miller Huggins sat him down and had a long talk with him. At Louisville he had been called "The Mail Carrier" because of his base stealing and speed. Huggins, however, told Combs not to worry about stealing bases but as a leadoff man to
wait out the pitcher, get on base any way he could, and let the big guns in the lineup, like Ruth, drive him in. Huggins ended the talk with "Up here we will call you the Waiter." Combs, sensing that Huggins knew what he was talking about, put aside his ego, carried out his skipper's orders, and served the team well in his new situation. Because of the Yankees' great sluggers, Combs never stole more than sixteen bases in a season.
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I guess Earl Weaver wasn't the first manager whose favorite play was the three run homer.  Yeah, I know they don't have Babe Ruth but the 2012 Yankees hit 245 home runs.  The 1924 Yankees hit just 98 home runs (Ruth 46, Bob Meusel 12) but their Hall of Fame manager wanted his new leadoff batter to avoid making outs on the bases.  Even the 1927 Yankees hit only 158.

By the way the best base stealer on the 2012 Yankees was Alex Rodriguez: 13 SB, 1 CS.  How come nobody mentioned that when they were yapping about playing Brett Gardner so that the Yankees could steal some bases in the tournament?