Negro League pioneer Rube Foster, quoted in Only the Ball Was White, on why as a manager he generally ordered his players to take two strikes early in the game:
If you let a player make the pitcher pitch four or five balls to him, he will tire around seven innings, and if you can hit him at the beginning you can hit him when he is weaker and less effective. It is at this point I always center my attack. In most cases it is successful.
I actually just read that book for a class that I am taking.
I found that part interesting as well.
Ever wonder why Pedro can only go 7 innings? The Yankees perfected the pitch taking strategy against him (they also seemed to manage to hit a ridiculous number of foul balls) and other teams followed suit. He is always at 100 pitches or so in the 7th even though he (usually) has great control. People wait him out and when your bullpen sucks as badly as the Mets’ bullpen the strategy pays off.