On the subject of Bunting

FWHORN

FWHORN

10,000+ Posts
There was a lively debate amongst posters throughout the Army game last night on the continued use of the bunt throughout the game and its utility. Burnt Orange Nation has a great write up on it (credit to Barking Carnival as well).
The Link

As great as Augie is, and he is the best in the college game, I really felt like he coached Texas out of what should have been a blow out last night. No one questions his baseball knowledge or thinks the game has passed him by but last night until the ninth he stubbornly clung to a strategy that just didnt make sense in what was always going to be a shootout and in which big innings were needed to win. I understand the bunts Saturday and Friday so I am not questioning the overall small ball strategy but there is a time and a place for it and last night after about the third inning was neither.
 
We didn't hit with runners in scoring position and when you don't do that it makes any offensive strategy look bad.

I will say this: Texas did not hit into one Double Play the entire regional that I can remember. The bunt clearly accomplished that part of the strategy.
 
I suppose it is OK for you with vastly superior knowledge of baseball tactics compared to Augie Garrido to debate the importance of bunting on the internet, but the nitwit negative nabob who stood up and screamed at the top of his lungs at Augie after the bunt failed to attract the attention of our player on second base-after which one of our prominent players came out of the dugout and screamed "shut the f... up" at this clown, I'd say that was a little too much. And after the game others in the dugout yelled up at the stands in anger at this person.
I really don't care for that crap, which occurs on a regular basis, although I don't know how much they actually hear in the dugout.
 
accurate, your post is precisely the problem with getting into a debate on this board. None of us are claiming superior knowledge, in fact most acknowledged up front that Augie has probably forgotten more baseball than we know but that doesnt mean he cant make a strategic error and doesnt mean it cant be discussed and debated. Throwing out a personal attack like you just did is unnecessary after all we all want Texas to win.
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Having said that talking crap to your own team to the extent that it upsets the players is simply unacceptable. Disgusting even.

Barry Switzer is a better Longhorn fan than that guy.
 
Ok, ok, I didn't mean to say no one can express their opinion, I just got mad at the game over that incident. We all get mad at times over umpires decisions, coaches decisions, and players who don't perform perfectly, I just get tired of hearing it yelled at our own fans and our own players.
We all love to debate the merits of different strategies, and have strong opinions, I know that.
 
Augie should have expected some fallout when he moved the Horns to the first base dugout, right beneath a group of people who made heckling an art form for about 32 years.
 
No worries accurate, I know its nothing personal.

Debating on an internet board is fine but we can all agree yelling at players like that idiot last night is unacceptable. Whoever that is goes into the pantheon of pathetic fans along with those who called Simms after the 01 championship game and some superfans back in the 80's who were calling recruits to tell them not to come to Texas in an effort to get Akers fired. There is a line no fan should cross and yelling at kids like you described happened last night is one of them.
 
Why did Augie decide to move the home dugout? I know it's now the "mild bunch" compared to the old "wild bunch", but still, that's where the heckling takes place.
 
I think somebody like Augie has gotten in a rut with bunting because it probably works for him 75% of the time. Unfortunately that 75% of the time is probably the 75% of the time when he is playing against average to below average opposition.

It would be really interesting to see his success rate in bunting for his postseason career. For all I know, he might be far more effective than the regular season stats indicate.

Did my eyes deceive me? Did he really bunt with 2 strikes and the horns behind by 2 or 3 runs?
 
I know the 2005 team was a masterful small ball team and they beat some pretty good teams in the post season.
 
I know that, Guru.
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And I wonder why they chose to expand on the first base side when that puts our players in the sun dugout, our pitchers in the sun bullpen, and the Wild Bunch directly above our team. The Bunch USED to provide a distinct home field advantage, but not anymore.
 
Just guessing but they probably didnt have the room to remodel the old dugout to have it be near what building the new one has. No room in the old area to have a weight room, lockers, offices, medical facilities, etc, etc. The new locker room is extremely nice needless to say. Much more room on the new side plus they also built the hitting cages over there. Far more room to build new than to remodel. Just my guess.
 
Well Texas is 29-6-1 at home and 12-6 on the road so the Wild Bunch must still be doing something right.
 
I like the element of surprise. I think we should hit away occasionally when we get a man on first and less than two out.
 
Texanne nailed it. It would be a complete shock if that happened. Maybe that's it. He's saving the surprise for Omaha. He'll fake a bunt in Omaha during the winner's bracket game when we're tied.
 
I thought the bunting outrage from the fans basically occurred when the bunts were not successful.

(allow time for that to sink in.)

when bunts are successfully made, but the runners don't move up a base, then you have a problem. and that's what happened on several key situations.

any strategy might be okay if executed properly. if not, then the baseball coach/manager is going to look bad. but, that's what baseball fans are paid to do...criticize when things don't work out.

this saturday will be a new game and totally new circumstances. Now about that pitcher throwing 179 pitches...
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Hook'em!!!
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after reading moneyball I cringe whenever we bunt. However you cannot argue with the results.

I just wonder if the results could be even better if we cherished outs.
 
I admit I've never read Moneyball, but every time I see someone make a reference to it as the be-all, end-all, I have to wonder: where are all Billy Beane's championship trophies?

Oh, wait ...
 
In response to the where are Beane's championships question, the thing about moneyball is that it works over a 162 game schedule but is not a predictor for a seven game series and the author and Beane both say that in the book. The success of the Oakland A's with not just less but incredibly less payroll during the period studied is pretty good evidence that whatever they were doing it worked. Another factor to remember is that moneyball wasnt just about not bunting, it also had to do with what players you go after, on base %'s use of pitchers and a host of other things that went against the grain of "old time" baseball. Agree with it or not they make a compelling case.

The problem I had with the bunting Sunday was that we were in a game where it was plainly going to be a shootout and a bunt is a play for one run not a play for the big inning. Bunting was clearly the correct strategy Friday and Saturday where you knew a couple of runs would win the game. Its probably the correct call this coming weekend at least in games one and two where we can expect our staff to be able to keep the game low scoring. But, that wasnt the case this past Sunday and yet we stubbornly stuck to the strategy in spite of all evidence to the fact that double digits would probably be needed to win the game. I particularly was disturbed to see us bunting down three after the sixth inning.
 
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