I've never understood this. You should never bunt with Bourn on base - just steal. I'd bet he'll be more successful stealing than whomever will be bunting. And then you can still bunt him to third if it makes sense.
Or at least attempt a steal... or with a guy like Keppinger (good contact hitter), you could even go for a hit and run and in the process the ball may find a hole. That's the problem with having an inexperienced manager. He hasn't been in these type of situations enough to get a feel for what works and what doesn't work. He's being pretty rigid/fixed in his ways for a guy that may never get another MLB job if he doesn't succeed.
I think that's what he meant. Steal the base, then bunt to the next. Could be wrong though. Oh well. Gotta get the next two...Go Stros!
Whoops. Perhaps "pounded" was not the right word. Ortiz impressed me, to say the least, more so than any of his other starts.
i'm going to throw in the fact that righties are hitting .170 against soria. anybody and everybody who thinks that letting pudge bat and swing away there gives us the best chance of scoring a run that inning is just dead wrong. and for the last time, what is so hard to understand about the fact that pudge can be pinch-hit for with maysonet, oswalt, backe, moehler, or wandy, if pudge is incapable of bunting? why can't you people who say that "pudge can't bunt", "pudge has 20 sac bunts in his career", etc., get this through your heads???????? and Nick, quit even giving cooper any outs or benefits of the doubt by saying "he's inexperienced as a manager". that isn't an excuse. this imbecile has been in the game for the past 35 years. you should learn a thing or two over that time span. he's just dumb as nails. and stubborn as hell. the worst possible combo you can have. and allegedly unlikeable to boot.
I didn't say anything about extra base hits or having a big inning, more like giving yourself more chances to get to the guy. Maybe he throws more pitches and KC brings in their closer sooner (I believe he finished well over a hundred pitches). Stealing or hit-and-run seem like better options there, as has been pointed out. Keep in mind this is the opinion of someone who hasn't watched a lot of baseball in the last 15 years.
another thing: this whole chic new cliche that robots hear and can't stop repeating, "Bunting is a waste of an out" or "You only get 27 outs"....it just makes me cringe. as if there is no merit to putting yourself in the best possible position to scoring runs. as if this is fact, and that game situation, players in question, and any and every other factor is immaterial. if we had a man on third in the bottom of the 9th in a tie ballgame, and we hit a sac fly to left, and the runner scored, and we won the game, is that a f'ing "waste of an out"? there ARE situations that making outs benefits your team. there's one that can even be sorted out by those who don't understand what's going on and just repeat rote phrases to sound cool and cuz "moneyball guys" say so.
i've been saying this for a long time. stats are great and they help you understand more. but they have to be applied appropriately to the right context. not every player on every team in every situation in every at bat is the same. this became most evident for me in 2006 when someone here was extolling the virtue of the great OBP that morgan ensberg had while batting in the cleanup spot. he let hittable, good pitches go by being patient...and that was extolled as virtue. problem was, jason freaking lane was batting behind him. our lineup was weak. we need morgan to be MORE aggressive at the plate...to look to drive in runs from the cleanup spot. turning the scoring opportunity over to the next guy was not an ok option. but we went round and round here about how valuable morgan was with his high OBP.
This has been confirmed in Alyson Footer's column. The suspended game will start at 6:05 PM. http://footer.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/congrats_to_the_pumas_news_not.html
I have never agreed with you more than right here, right now. Thanks for expressing it better than I did in my earlier attempt. And Max, I remember that 2006 discussion. All kinds of stupid.
hah, i just went back to look at what earlier attempt you were talking about. i missed it, and i think you expressed it better than I did. my posts get written in haste and rage, which tends to lead to riddling them with bad grammar and an occasional touch of incoherence. . i need editing capabilities.
Wow, Carlos... you had no chance. On another note, Fernando Nieve has shut down the Cards through 6 innings tonight. This after consecutive excellent starts against the Yankees and Rays.
Crap, Tejada's poor range and arm keep that inning going. It should have been a quick 1-2-3, now KC is winning and we can't get anything off Hochevar.
Thank you, Mr. Erstad!!!!! Reminiscent of San Fran last season. Roy deserved that after Miggy allowing the last inning to continue.
