Rare would be “hit two grand slams in one inning”, which has happened once.
I feel like some people aren’t paying attention. I wouldn’t begrudge Crawford or Bartlett for attempting it either, because that is part of their game. They are speed guys, and bunting for a hit is part of what they do. Longoria is a power hitter with a high average. Bunting for a hit is not what he does. The only argument for it is the surprise thing, which frankly doesn’t impress me. It would have been surprising for Bonds to try to bunt for a hit in his prime, too. But he would never have done that, and as his manager I would never expect or want him to do it.
While it may not be an “official” unwritten rule (I have yet to be totally swung either way), the fact is that nobody ever does it and its a jerky thing to do. Typical classless move by Arod who has been pulling this kind of crap for years now.
Hm, guess the North Jersey sports section doesn’t get picked up by the AP, because I didn’t see this and I followed the story pretty closely. Fair enough, some yankees came to his defence, although Teixeira & Joba aren’t exactly the faces of the franchise.
My agreement with garygnu had to do with the fact that I didn’t think that Longoria broke any unwritten rules by attempting a bunt in the 5th inning. In the 8th or 9th - absolutely. It would be a classless move (although not necessarily if Crawford or Bartlett tried it…but I would, obviously, prefer if they were swinging away). We can continue to debate where the cut-off for “no-hitter in progress” is. I’ll open with the 7th.
Oh, and can we all just concede that the Yankees are the greatest franchise in modern history and that anyone who has ever played for them (except for, apparently, Wells and Clemens) are the epitome of class, humility, grace, and sportsmanship? If we do that, can the rest of us go back to talking about the 19th perfect game in the history of MLB?
I am willing to give a pass to anyone who defends his weight with “I never heard of a player going on the disabled list with pulled fat.”
I don’t think it’d be unreasonable to say the 6th - it’s after the pitcher has qualified to pick up the win. If it’s 0-0, I think you can stretch it to the 7th.
Interesting trend; I think the lion’s share of it can be attributed to K rates.
Think about it, the number of outs is the exponent in the probability formula, and since k’s are 100% (or nearly so) outs, whereas a ball in play is only about an out about 70% of the time, it is much easier for a pitcher (and his team) to be perfect in a high K environment.
Notice how the preponderance of perfect games occurred in high strikeout eras.
Anyway, congrats to Braden, A-Rod is a known douchebag and the 7th inning is the cutoff for bunting in a no-no, except for 1 run games, in which anything goes.
Absolutely.
There’s a graph showing MLB strikeout rates here, and the highest strikeout eras have been the two decades since 1990, as well as a period in the 1960s. Those 25 years or so account for 10 of the 19 perfect games.
Furthermore, you’re right about the general principle that more strikeouts will increase your chances of a PG, because once the ball’s in play there’s a whole bunch of luck involved. Even if every single ball is hit straight to a fielder, a PG does not even allow for errors, leaving the pitcher at the mercy of his defense. I’d be interested to see an analysis of strikeout rates compared to both perfect games (where errors fuck up the pitcher) and to no-hitters (where errors don’t fuck up the pitcher).
Of the PGs in the high strikeout eras, most of them have had a higher than average number of strikeouts.
Bunning 10
Koufax 14
Hunter 11
Martinez 5
Rogers 8
Wells 11
Cone 10
Johnson 13
Buehrle 6
Braden 6
As you can see, 6 of the 10 got double-digit strikeouts, which certainly reduces the luck factor, and reduces the pressure of the defense.
The best hitter in a given context is the one that does what’s most likely to get him on base and contribute to his team winning the game.
I don’t know if Pujols is ever in a situation where attempting to bunt for a hit is his best move–but if he is, and he doesn’t, that would be the move to criticize.
It may be true that bunting was a bad move even for Longoria, in context–but not because it was a small-ball tactic to break up a perfecto.
Respect for the game? You mean the game of baseball or the perfecto?
Either way, the most respectful move for the opposing team is to do everything they can to win, until the last out is made. Anything less degrades the achievement.
Well I’d love for someone to post a link to the actual postgame interview Rodriguez gave - my Google skills have failed me here and I can’t seem to find it - but if you want my opinion it’s pretty simple. A-Rod could have been a man and said, “Yeah, I did it, so what?”; but instead he played stupid to the press corps, pretending he didn’t even remember the incident, all the while putting on one of the worst poker faces I’ve ever seen.
When he knocked the ball out of Arroyo’s hand it was classless, but at least it was an attempt to help his team win an ALCS game. When he yelled at that Toronto third baseman it was just plain bush league; but again, at least it was designed to help his team win a divisional game. Jogging across the mound was the least egregious act of the three, and Braden probably overreacted to it pretty badly; but when A-Rod put on that stupid act in the locker room, he came off looking like a jerk again.
Simply put, he’s waaaaay too good a player to keeping doing the childish stuff he does.
Fun fact: this is only the second time there have been two perfect games in a season. The first time was in 1880, and those happened in the same week.
I’m not sure I follow you; he tried it because regular swings also weren’t especially likely to work, as evidenced by the fact that regular swings hadn’t worked yet, sure as those regular swings kept on not working for the rest of the game. How much can we extrapolate from a failed bunt if everything else failed too?
Last night’s game was absolutely appropriate to have a speedy pinch-hitter attempt a bunt in the bottom of the ninth. I’m surprised it didn’t happen.
Over the weekend I was in Princeton, New Jersey, with an AM-only radio, and because of the electrical interference in the place I was staying at the only station I could pick up was the local station WHWH, which carries the Phillies games. I happened to turn on the radio during the sixth inning, and by chance got to hear a piece of history.
What do people think about the fact that the Marlins are going to sell the previously unsold tickets for Halladay’s perfect game?
As I noted before in this thread, I attended Braden’s perfect game. A lot of people who went to that game saved their tickets as proof that they were there. It would be pretty annoying if the A’s were to put the unsold tickets for that game on sale now, as it would eliminate the “I was there” factor. It would also reduce the market value of the “real” tickets (I don’t plan to sell mine, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the idea).
I have season tickets, which look different from regular tickets, so I would have some protection if the A’s were to try the same thing that the Marlins are doing. Still, it would bug me in principle.
Blatant opportunism.
Still, if some douchebag wants to buy the ticket and pretend he was at the game, i don’t really care. If i had been at the game, it would not detract from my own experience if someone wanted to falsely claim that they were also there.
Agreed. To me, the most top-notch play in the game is the long throw from right field to nail a runner at third base, especially if it’s a close call. I frankly don’t care which team makes it when I see it.
Here’s a good example. Sorry about the absolute suck music on the clip.