Dave Studenmund has a terrific article up at The Hardball Times today entitled Making The Most of What You've Got". A great article that looks at two important factors in creating runs: getting your runners into scoring position, and getting hits when those runners are there. Also Studes links to Tangotiger's "How Runs Are Really Created" which is a seminal piece of research.
An interesting read, but unfortunately using BA w/RISP ignores scoring plays which don't involve hits - namely sac flies and ground-outs. Teams should get just as much credit for a run-scoring ground ball as they do for an RBI single, since they count equally on the scoresheet.
I think the article says that the two most important factors is getting runners on and getting hits in those situations. And I would say they are the most important by a lot.
That's not to say you can't score runs without getting hits. But there's a reason that good hitters drive in the majority of their runs because of consistent hitting or power hitting. Sac flies and groundouts as much as they look sound fundamentally are a small percentage of total run production for any team.
If you're trying to compete offensively with the Yankees and Red Sox with a lineup that depends on groundballs and sac flies to scratch out runs you're going to lose everytime.
That's not to say you can't score runs without getting hits. But there's a reason that good hitters drive in the majority of their runs because of consistent hitting or power hitting. Sac flies and groundouts as much as they look sound fundamentally are a small percentage of total run production for any team.
If you're trying to compete offensively with the Yankees and Red Sox with a lineup that depends on groundballs and sac flies to scratch out runs you're going to lose everytime.