I'm basically with CoachB25 here. Up until fairly recently, I had always insisted that my players take a strike when behind late in the ballgame, but I was never really satisfied with that approach. It rarely seemed to produce the intended results. We didn't seem to coax enough walks, and the hitters too often started in the hole and were more vulnerable than ever to the breaking ball. A few years ago I "borrowed" an approach from collegiate baseball legend Gordie Gillespie. I figured if it worked for him for more than 1400 wins at the college level, it should be good enough for me. When behind by 4 or more runs in the 7th inning of 9-inning game (5th inning of a 7 inning game)his hitters can swing at any 1st pitch fastball strike but must lay off any breaking ball. (Just like at any other at bat) However, if the first pitch is a ball, the hitter then must take until a strike is called. Following this pattern, our walks increased, and our hitters, especially with runners on seemed to prosper.