Why worry about A's whiffs?

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ARLINGTON -- There are many ways to describe a swing and a miss at the plate, or a called third strike. They are known as strikeouts, whiffs, punchouts, Ks -- they aren't good -- and this season the A's have found a way to make us overuse the aforementioned terms.

Oakland batters have stuck out an ongoing franchise record 1322 times. The Athletics franchise has been in Major League Baseball since 1901. That means the A's haven't struck out this many times in 111 years. With 15 punchouts on Tuesday night, the A's are now three away from breaking the all-time American League record of 1,324 recorded by the Rays in 2007. That will most certainly happen in Wednesday's game. The Major League Baseball record is 1,529 set by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010.
RELATED: 2012 A's stats page
This season the A's lead the majors in the strikeouts, but does it really matter? They are having their best season since 2006. The all-or-nothing approach is something that has been working for them at the plate. The team has 99 home runs since the All-Star Break which ties them for the most in baseball. The team's 182 long balls this season are tied for seventh in MLB, and the club is 73-37 when they hit a homer. They may swing and miss a lot, but at least they are taking mighty hacks. The A's have scored 339 runs since the All-Star Break, the second most in the American League. Prior to the break they had scored an A.L. worst 319 runs.While the all-or-nothing approach works most of the time, it also lends itself to the occasional result of nothing, rather than all. Oakland has been shutout 16 times which ties them with the Miami Marlins for the most in baseball. The 16 shut outs is the third highest total in Oakland history; the record of 19 was set in 1978. With the good you have to take the bad. The strikeouts seem to be a necessary evil for the A's based on their currently successful approach at the plate. So are the whiffs really an issue? What do you think? Weigh in! The comments section is below.