Baseball Etiquette!

The_Hurricane · Grand Poobah

Baseball Etiquette!

HERBCARTER · Senior Member

I'm truly sorry it had to come to that Hurricane!

mgirard11 · Hall of Famer

Hurricane, you ought to take a look at who the one person is who sides with you on this issue.
Herb Carter! The guy that drag bunted in the last inning of a perfect game by Mr. Ansel when they were down a dozen or more runs. Nice company you keep!
Oh yeah! Herb you are correct. I do not hate you because we happen to be on opposite sides of this issue. Explain that to your buddy here will ya?!

HERBCARTER · Senior Member

Guess I just listened to my inner Casey Stengel Mike. Funny, now that this is indeed the #1 all time most discussed, viewed and replied to forum entry in CDMSBL history and I have no life anymore, I went back and viewed some of the previous high ones and # 2 was one of my all time favorites about another of your heroes Jim Latoure.
Jim has a nice way of dealing with the bunters of the world, he likes to drill them in the thigh.
That's perfectly okay too. Noone here seems to take this perrsonally except for you Mike. Why is that? I have seen both Jims several times in the last few years and never had any issues with them.
If Jim had such a problem then why didn't he start this string of discussion? Are you seriously telling me that you have never seen a six run inning in the CDMSBL? You are turning this into something ugly Mike and that is the real shame in this.

class · Veteran Member

Wow...quite the discussion. Especially when you get the theologian, Donnelly, involved. Some play the game without really knowing the game. And, some know the game but can't play it. (I'm part of the latter).

A few things to point out. 1. Jimmy Ansel was pitching the no hitter.... hats off to him after what he has been through, it's not easy for anyone to get the 6th with a no hitter no matter who you are. 2. On defense, with a no hitter going, do what you can to prevent a hit at all cost.. like Greer's dive to save Kenny Roger's no-hitter. Prepare for a bloop hit or the unexpected, especially in this league. 3. Whether or not you think the bunt was the right or wrong call in the 6th, down 6-0 and one out; there isn't a major league level, college level, high school level or even recreaction level coach/manager that would agree with the decision to bunt. They would tell you to swing the F@%#*$ bat. As the batter, you should be trying to drive one right up the middle as hard as you can. Now, Casey yelling to Mickey was either in jest or to be spiteful. But, either way it couldn't have been taken seriously since he is YELLING from the dugout.

Against a no hitter, bring your best. If bunting is your best.....ouch. This is almost like attempting a 60 - yard field goal being down 35 - 7 in the 4th qtr with 1:00 minute left. What's the point?

Listening to Mike and Mike this morning, they were talking about how baseball players are the elephants of sports. They don't forget anything. The story was told about Farmer hitting a home run off a pitcher and taking his sweet time to round the bases. 3 years later, Farmer and this same pitcher were teammates and the pitcher drilled Farmer in the back during BP and said that was for 3 years ago.

notes · Senior Member

I reiterate my initial comment. BOO HOO. You won the game. It wasn't a no - hitter. Get over it.

blumpkin · Member

There once was a guy named "notes"
Who liked to reiterate his sad little quotes,
He had three hits vs the Mets
(Which is more than he usually gets)
But he's still on a team full of goats.

*Apologies to the entire (first place, mind you) White Sox team - I just needed a word that rhymed with "notes" & "quotes".

notes · Senior Member

Stick to your average baseball ability because you're average as a poet also.

blumpkin · Member

Notes questions my poetic ability?
Thinks I have no eloquent agility?
Well "Boo Hoo" to you too,
You big tub o' goo
You're just pissed 'cause you have no mobility!

HERBCARTER · Senior Member

oooooo! Poetry....... I can't resist..

Hey you, with the screen name of Blumpkin
You're living with a false assumption
That Notes gives a damn
about the poem from your hand
but you sure have a lot of gumption.

See and you thought I was going to be rude and compare you to a pumpkin didn't you. I still think that this is the most fun I've had in months. Thanks for making my days go by a little faster.

notes · Senior Member

Now Herb is a real poet!

blumpkin · Member

notes wrote:

Now Herb is a real poet!

You know something, Notes? I'm starting to like you. I just realized your subliminal message in the above statement; if you rearrange the letters in the phrase "Now Herb is a real poet", it states the following: "Base hit, no real power" or "No real power base hit" or "Real power, no base hit" or "No-hit, or a real sweep?" or "Row beneath a spoiler" or "Swear, no operable hit" or "Then beware a solo rip" or "Beware a nil hope sort" or "A baseline twerp or ho" or "Hits a real boner, o pew!".

And then there's "A bipolar Notes, where?" or "Notes, her labia power" or "Herb is a leper, on two!" or "Herb is a po', wet loner" or "Herb is a real wet poon".

Also, "A Pete Rose blown hair" or "Beware, it's a porn hole!" or "Ew, her poor labia nest" or "A ripe whalebone rots" or "A low rope hibernates" or ...

notes · Senior Member

blumpkin, you need to get a life. You have too much free time on your hands.

The_Hurricane · Grand Poobah

I brought this topic up on the on-line baseball forum that I belong to and I thought this post was well thought out and presented. I know it backs up my point of view, but this guy expresses his points better than I do; so:

I see two basic issues here, so I'll try my best to tackle them one at a time:

1. A bunt for a hit is a hit. A little dying quail that just barely makes it past the infielders is a hit. I played in a softball game today where a girl hit the ball about 50 feet straight up, and it ended up dropping between the thirdbaseman, shortstop, and pitcher, none of whom called for the ball, none of whom put a glove on the ball. If THAT is a base hit (which it is!), then a bunt is a hit.

2. And this is the biggee...what's appropriate? Well, for my money, sometimes, when a hitter just can't seem to catch a break, you will try ANYTHING for a base hit. If you've got the wheels, feel free to give it a shot. Bunting for a hit late in a no-hitter or perfect game is fine...and here is the line I want you to take away from this: not trying everything you can to break up a shutout/no-hitter/perfect game CHEAPENS the achievement. And if you want to see a major league team doing that right, look at the Atlanta Braves a couple years ago against Randy Johnson, when he DID throw a perfect game. I remember distinctly looking at the box score in the paper the next day, anticipating seeing all of those 0-3's. Except Mike Hampton (the unfortunate losing pitcher, who had also pitched a hell of a game), had an 0-2, and some random pinch-hitter was 0-1. That's right, folks...never mind two innings, ONE OUT away from a perfect game, and the Braves were sending a pinch hitter to the plate for their pitcher. Why? Because you never know. Rallies are built around little things. Sometimes it's a walk. Or a dumb error. Or a general brain fart by a middle infielder, and before you know it, the team in the field is pointing fingers, and that 6 run 8th inning lead is a 2 run 8th inning lead, and you have runners on the corners and 2 outs...and all of a sudden, that leadoff bunt single seems pretty darn significant.

Now, having said that, let's reverse the roles a bit, shall we? Let's say it's 6-0 in the eighth, and the team with the lead bunts for a single....is it different? It feels different to me, even though I know that's hypocritical. I will say this: baseball, it would seem, has more UNwritten rules than written ones, and almost all of them seem to have the following format: "in a blowout, never...", and just fill in your favorite taboo. The thing I find amusing is no one ever says what a blowout is. 6 runs? 12? 24? Does the inning matter? Is it a formula like WHIP? ("OK, you take the lead, divide by the number of outs remaining in the game, multiply by the natural log of gravity on Saturn, subtract the windspeed in the stadium, plus or minus a run for a day game or a night game...and if THAT is over, but NOT INCLUDING 10, THEN it's a blowout...") I mean, that's the great thing about baseball, isn't it? There's no time limit. If a team is down 21 points in the fourth quarter with 5:00 left in a football game, you know that, barring a miracle, the game is over. So, the backups come in, and they run the clock down, and the other team ends up scoring a touchdown in so-called, "garbage time." Not with baseball. Down 12 runs with two outs, bottom of the ninth? OK...not likely...but POSSIBLE!

So when is it truly OK to stop trying to win? Just a thought...

Seamus · Member

First line in point #1 says it all, "I played in a Softball game".

HERBCARTER · Senior Member

At least it wasn't soccer

Admin · Member

OK,

This thread has been bantered long enough. It is now locked.