its a little league skill, for crying out loud

We let all the defensive jabbering and crap talk us out of the bunt and into a the chop...then you get nothing.

Comes back to haunt you every time.

It is great seeing desk jockeys act like certain skills are so easy

This will come back to haunt us against a team like FSU that knows how to light up the scoreboard. We gotta be able to move guys over to second on a leadoff single and then have the clutch hits to drive them in.

In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrafices.

But our guys suck, I know

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In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrafices.

But our guys suck, I know

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Agree with the sentiment, but our guys flat our sucked at bunting the ball today. They were good during the season, but just didn't have it today. It could have been pretty costly too if we didn't wake up in the 8th inning.

I doubt the pitcher had anything to do with it

CHILDRESS!

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I doubt the pitcher had anything to do with it

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So this team is above criticism? Yeah, some people go too far, but its ok to point out that today was a horrible day at the plate when it comes to laying down a bunt.

It is easy...bunting is the easiest skill in the game.

It's the only skill where they should all look a like and be "robots".

I coach it, I know. Guys this skilled at D1 programs like A&M...have enough talent to bunt.

Problem is....they don't like to do it when they are younger and never taught to appreciate how valuable a skill it really is and they overlook the proper techniques.

Any good coach worth his salt, stresses the bunt game-our coaches included.

I am not saying we don't like to bunt or not good at it-haven't really watched our team enough this year; simply stating that most kids don't take the time to master the skill or see it as valuable.

That is about to change as the high school kids will no longer be allowed to use BESR bats and will have to use BBCOR next season...then they will realize.

I am not a big fan of Augie, but all of his guys do it and they win year in and year out.

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In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrafices.

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We have been a great bunting team all year long and simply struggled to bunt against this pitcher who was magnificent and pitching with a lot of velocity and movement. AZ is aggressive getting the lead runner out in sac ops, too. Totally disagree that this is "easy". Peace.

Easy

We bunted horribly early in the year. There were quite a few bunt pop-ups and bunt fouls leading to a 2-strike count.

Then as a team we began bunting pretty well (until today I guess) and of course that helped us win some of those games.

It is a skill that should be practiced every day as a beginning or an ending to batting practice. Curious how much we practice, and/or how much college level pitching makes it harder to bunt consistently.

Bratsen has been good at it this year but struggled today. In the last opportunity it looked like his heart wasn't in it. The attempt at the ball that was low and away was flat awful.
Anyone saying it's easy is a fool. Nothing like a Monday morning quarterback.

It could also be said that arguing over a relative term, i.e. easy, is foolish.

Whether or not an internet poster thinks he can bunt at an MLB level is outside of the point.

Our normally sufficient bunting was sub-par in this instance. /EOT

I'll be your Monday morning QB....every day of the week because I have been in the practice, the games the summer camps in 100 degree heat with baseball players from high school to college to all ages stressing fundamentals and the importance of the bunt.

How many baseball players do you think you have attempted to teach how to bunt? Where would you start, do you have any idea what you attempt to cover? Technique? Strategy?

I do, I have done it-as a player and a coach.

I say it's easy, I realize it is NOT as easy as I make it out to be, but I do believe that with proper technique and a passion to sacrifice you can teach a player to be an excellent bunter with a high success rate.

And if I sound ticked off..I am a little. But don't take satisfaction that it's directed toward you.

I have a real passion for the game and how it's played. When you are in a dugout with emotions and feelings on the line and ego's to go with it and it comes down to crucial situations when small things like SAC BUNTS get magnified in playoff games or regionals at collegiate levels then you will understand where I am coming from.

Thanks...from your Monday Morning QB.

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In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrafices.

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While bunting is am important skill to learn with various techniques for getting the ball down, deadening how hard the ball comes off the bat, etc., I guarantee that it's not "easy" against a pitcher with the speed, movement and breaking pitch that Heyer was bearing down with today. Still, we need to hope that every batter up and down the line-up takes bunting practice seriously. The lack of effective bunting today could easily have cost us the regional championship.

Please tell me that we don't have anyone on this board that doesn't think bunting is easy. Give me a break. I coached a damn 13-14 year old team this year and if they failed at bunting like A&M did today, I would come unglued.

I trust ColoradoMooseHerd's opinion. He has the hardware to back it up.

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Please tell me that we don't have anyone on this board that doesn't think bunting is easy. Give me a break. I coached a damn 13-14 year old team this year and if they failed at bunting like A&M did today, I would come unglued.

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Why would you bunt at that age when you can pretty much steal at will? And if it is so easy to learn how to bunt, then why bother teaching at a young age when you can just teach at an old age when it becomes more relevant

[This message has been edited by Obejuan03 (edited 6/7/2011 9:41p).]

We need to hit the ball. Stop looking at strikes. Swing at the ball and let her rip.

That seems harsh! Maybe we should give the sac bunts a stern talking to, but execute them?! That's just too far.

My FP softball players all work on bunting, if for no other reason than it teaches them to watch the ball all the way to the bat. I have found that in BP if they lay down 6 - 10 bunts, they make better contact when swinging away. My guess is this works with baseball players also and would be a good reason to teach bunting at all age levels.

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It's your money, not theIRS! (At least for a little while longer.)

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My FP softball players all work on bunting, if for no other reason than it teaches them to watch the ball all the way to the bat. I have found that in BP if they lay down 6 - 10 bunts, they make better contact when swinging away. My guess is this works with baseball players also and would be a good reason to teach bunting at all age levels.

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That makes sense.

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We need to hit the ball. Stop looking at strikes. Swing at the ball and let her rip.

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Hasnt seen many of our games.

We are extremely aggressive at the plate. Taking too many pitches is not an issue with this team.

Bunting is not a difficult skill to master. And really not a difficult skill to teach. Execution of a sac bunt during a game requires focus and the willingness to give up your at bat. If the guy at the plate ain't committed to getting it down, chances are the bunt will be piss poor. With this being said, I am not a fan of bunting early in games which seems to be a real trend in college games this year.

I agree fungo - I think butning should generally not be employed unless you are in the 6th or later innings in a really tight game. Obviously, one has to tailor the situation to the game (what pitcher is on the mound - are you stuck with a terrible 8 and 9 hole hitter that happens to be a great bunter?). I wonder what the statistics would say about the rationale of bunting in early innings given the change in bats.

These last two posts I agree with.

I would'nt know what the stats reveal on bunting early in games. One of the things I think coaches talk about is putting pressure on the defenses early in games...still think you can apply pressure by running the bases hard thinking two bases at a time and more hitting and running early on...especially if you have a guy that is around the plate. Yes probably 6th inning on for me as well...I still like to see guys get a chance to swing it early in games...As far as the bats go...don't see where this would make a difference in chosing to bunt early in games...yeah they may not be as lively, but if you can swing the stick it doesn't matter what you have in your hand. Most of these guys playing would probably jump at the chance to swing some wood everyday.

I agree it's difficult to argue about the word, "Easy" so I'll put some statistics behind this.

Sac bunt success rate is one of the hardest things to understand because there is no good way to keep track of it. If you attempt and miss on the first two strikes, but then don't attempt for your third strike, is this failed? We say that KB "failed" at it when this exact same thing happened yesterday, but in fact, these would not be recorded in the MLB as a failed sac bunt, only those where the ball was bunted in play and a result at a base is recorded. If you lay down a sac and it's misplayed or you happen to get on base, is this a sac? Again, no. It's a hit. The success rate, even in the MLB, is vastly overstated compared to real situations which is not a controversial statement given this problem.

From a past last week on a Nats blog (http://firejimbowden.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html) the success rate for the NL when a bunt is put in play to sac a runner forward is anywhere from 50% to 75% in the vastly overstated method. If the best in the world can only do something 50% to 75% of the time WHEN IT'S SUCCESSFULLY BUNTED INTO FAIR TERRITORY REQUIRING A PLAY, I think that's a strong case to say that it's not easy, even if it's easier than hitting for a single. When you add in the fact that, say in the AL, sac bunts happen all season long between 25-75 times, and divide that by the starters, then as a player you are going to be asked to do it only a couple times a year compared to daily requirement to do dozens of other specialized activities that also require PASSION and dedication.

So MLB isn't the same as college, but college isn't the same as Little League. Given significant time in the cage, bunting isn't rocket science. If you take Jacob House, for example, I'm very pleased that he has spent most of his time focusing on his footwork, pick-off tags, fielding, etc. I value bunting a lot, but I'm not going to rag on this team after they just won a Super-Regional because one of our best season-long bunters had a tough time laying down a bunt for Tyler against a great pitcher with a lot of velocity and movement, especially when that same player made incredible plays in the field and got a base-hit to win the game with 2 outs. Keep in mind that bunting or hitting was damned hard - - I recall this guy had a 3-hitter going until Tyler started things off in the 8th. So, I'll simply say he had a tough day attempting to bunt and leave it at that. But hey, that's just how I roll, and I don't feel animosity to you CAR or anyone else. Where I do agree with CAR96 is that you have to be dedicated to being a great bunter if you want to make it easIER, and with focus and dedication, you should get reasonably good at this skill.

Peace and BTHOFSU!

[This message has been edited by Baron de Bastrop (edited 6/9/2011 10:33a).]

I can't believe that I am delving into this thread, but everyone here realizes that Krey got the game winning RBI on Tuesday, right?!? He has bunted well consistently throughout this season. He failed in that roll on Tuesday but redeemed himself with that beautiful dribbler up the middle. That's the nature of the game, failure and redemption.

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In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrifices.

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Just what are you saying, Moose?!?

[This message has been edited by dabo man (edited 6/9/2011 1:43p).]

I challenge anyone on this board to lay down a clean bunt 9/10 times against a D1 pitcher that knows it's coming. If it's easy, 9/10 should be no problem... right?

The concept of bunting is easier than hitting. Eliminate bat movement and it's simpler... but that's not how it works. You simply don't get enough experience doing it to have a 90% success rate. The pitcher also usually knows its coming and has the ability to pitch around it.

I'm not saying it's impossible... just saying it's not quite as easy as most of you are making it out to be.

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In conference play, not only did our terrible hitting team lead the conference in batting and rbi's, but we also led in sacrifices.

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if i remember hearing this right, we also had the best ERA in conference play. not that it really applies to this thread in anyway. just felt like saying it.