Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 08, 2004
When Do You Bunt? (and othe stuff)

Eric Byrnes was the hero for the Athletics last night, taking a Terry Mulholland pitch deep into the left field stands for a two-run homer in the 13th and the win. From the recap on ESPN.com:


Eric Byrnes popped out to second when he had chance to win the game in the 11th inning.

He made his next at-bat count, hitting a two-run homer in the 13th inning to give the Oakland Athletics an 11-9 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.


That AB in the 11th was the subject of much discussion in the Baseball Info Solutions scoring room last night. With men on first and second, none out, why weren't the A's bunting? Earlier in the evening, Bobby Crosby had executed the A's first sacrifice bunt of the year. Now granted, some of the desire for the bunt last night was due to the desire to have the game end so we could go to bed, but in general, if you are going to bunt, this is the perfect situation to use the sacrifice. If the bunt is successful, the opposition either has to bring the infield and the outfield in, or walk the next batter and hope for a double play. While Byrnes is off to a good start this year, over his career he's basically an average hitter. It's not like the A's had Barry Bonds at the plate. I'd hate to see that play in the first inning, but in the 11th inning of a tie game it makes a lot of sense.

But the strategy eventually worked for the A's. Bradford was able to keep Minnesota scoreless until Terry Mulholland made a mistake. We were sitting there wondering how Terry Mulholland could pitch so well against the A's. Let's face it, Terry hasn't been good since 1993. He's so old, I don't remember when he was young. And yet for 3 2/3 innings last night the A's could not manage a run off him. On the penultimate pitch of the game, a 3-1 count to Byrnes, Mulholland a perfect pitch on the lower inside corner. The ball got just enough of the plate in just the right spot. I turned to the person scoring the game and said something like, "Watch him hang the next pitch." And sure enough, Byrnes got the phattest pitch you'll ever see and crushed it. Am I psychic? No. Lucky? Absolutley. Maybe I just solved a complex pattern recognition problem. But it's nice to be right once in a while. :-)


Posted by David Pinto at 10:57 AM | Strategy | TrackBack (1)
Comments

it seems that the "moneyball" teams are absolutely determined not to bunt, steal bases or use good baserunning. like, EVER! there is a time and place for bunting and stealing, where accepting the possibility of an out to advance runners and change defense is a better idea than insisting on no chancing an out. it is stupid. not to mention boring. for goodness sakes, JEFF KENT stole a base on thursday. freaked out jason kendall and the pitcher. then berkman got on. fired up the team and the crowd.

Posted by: lisa gray at May 8, 2004 04:09 PM

It's not that the A's are determined _never_ to bunt, Lisa. In the inning David talks about in his post, the batter preceding Byrnes, Marco Scutaro, attempted to lay down a no-out bunt to advance Damian Miller to second. But the Twins ended up walking him, setting up the two-on, nobody out situation for the Byrnes at bat. (Interestingly enough, that was the second time in that game when an Oakland player tried to sacrifice only to end up taking a walk -- Mark Kotsay walked back in the seventh, after showing bunt on the first couple pitches. It's awful hard to lay down bunts when the other team isn't putting the ball anywhere near the vicinity of the strike zone.)

As for Byrnes, the reason he probably didn't bunt in that situation is not because the A's are determined never to bunt, but because Byrnes is such a miserable bunter that his chances of successfully advancing the runners was minimal compared to the chance that he would either get the lead runner -- slow-footed Damian Miller -- gunned down at third. That, of course, raises the question on how a player can get to the major leagues without learning how to competently bunt -- and unlike most of my fellow A's fans, I am stunned that Byrnes not only remains on the roster but plays regularly -- but it's tough asking your personnel to do things they aren't equipped to do.

Posted by: Philip M. at May 8, 2004 04:27 PM

"That AB in the 11th was the subject of much discussion in the Baseball Info Solutions scoring room last night."

... a room which I imagine to look like Mission Control in the 60s -- all you guys in your short-sleeve white shirts & ties, following the games on the big screens.

Posted by: Chris Marcil at May 8, 2004 06:51 PM

The A's had the exact same situation two nights earlier against the Mariano Rivera and the Yankees with Kotsay up, and the A's down a run. Kotsay bunted. The runner got thrown out at third.

So I'll bet that was fresh in Macha's mind, in addition to the reasons that Philip M gave.

Posted by: Ken Arneson at May 8, 2004 08:28 PM