Little Things
In baseball, it's often little things that never show up in the box score that determine the winner of a close game.
I'm reminded of that law of baseball as I'm watching the Cards-Astros game on the tube this afternoon. Daryl Kile had held the Astros to one hit, but he was on a limited pitch count, so the Astros got to face a shaky Cards reliever in the top of the 7th. They got the first two men on base with no outs, and manager Jimy Williams pinch hit Jose Vizcaino for the sole purpose of laying down a bunt and advancing the runners to scoring position (with one out -- a strategy rarely employed by former manager Larry Dierker). But Vizcaino, a guy with a lot of experience, couldn't get down two bunt attempts. His mechanics were terrible -- instead of keeping his head in with the ball, at the end of both fouled off bunt popups his head was staring AWAY from the ball and upwards in the general direction he was trying to push the bat; in other words, he wasn't really watching the ball all the way in. Consequently, because of his terribly mechanics, he got in an 0-2 hole, Williams called off the bunt, and he struck out.
The next batter hit into a double play -- which wouldn't have happened if the runners had been advanced by a successful bunt.
And instead of possibly pushing a run across and going to one of the best 1-2 relief duos in the game (Dotel and Wagner), the game is still tied, on the road.
When people look at the box score tomorrow, they won't see that critical series in the 7th inning represented in a way that demonstrates its importance. But if the Astros go on to lose, they can chalk it up to screwing up fundamentals (mechanics of bunting).
Kudos to Roy Oswalt for pitching a fine game (10 Ks in 6 innings despite not having his best stuff) before Williams hit for him. It would have been nice to get a bunt down and maybe manufacture a run to give him a chance for the win.
As far as bunting goes, it almost seems to be a lost art. I think major league hitters ought to be fined by the manager if they don't get a bunt down in a crucial situation -- not that a fine matters much to the prima donna millionaires, but it at least might send a signal. Millionaire hitters ought to be embarrassed they can't lay down a bunt that most little leaguers can get down.
(Update) In the 8th inning, Biggio just laid down a perfect bunt to advance the baserunner to second. There's one out with the #2 man in the order up. At least you give yourself a chance to score in this situation.
[Posted at 15:37 CST on 04/13/02] [Link]
