Wasn’t there a softball player who hit a homerun but was injured and couldn’t walk so the opposing team carried her around the bases (you cannot be assisted/touched by your own team) so she could tag the bases and get a record?
Thing is, baseball does not have a clock. Even if you are down by 10 in the 8th, you still at least theoretically have a chance, and that one successful bunt could be the spark that turns things around for your team. It ain’t over until Yogi says it’s over.
Baseball does, however, have strong traditions and unwritten rules. It would be objectively be considered a dick move.
And one of those rules is, why should you just roll over and give up a perfect game? The pitcher needs to earn it. ISTR a game some while back where, after 8, one pitcher had a perfect game going while the other had a no-hitter. I cannot remember how that ended, but someone was sad, I think.
But that would be standard strategy to get on base if no one has scored or it’s close.
The biggest ninth inning comeback in MLB was 9 runs back in 1901.
Your hypothetical world doesn’t match reality.
The game to which you are referring was a close game. The hitter bunted. In the end, the overall consensus was that it was acceptable because you do what you have to do to win. If it was a blow out, it would not have been acceptable.
This has been explained over and over in this thread.
That is not, in fact, one of those rules. It’s why bunting late in a no-hitter is panned as a dick move. No one is saying batters should go up with a blindfold on or keep his bat on his shoulders, but I have absolutely never heard that batters should pull out every trick they can to break it up.
I don’t necessarily think bunting for a hit in that situation is all that egregious, and think a lot of the “unwritten rules” are childish nonsense. I also think that bunting in general is stupid and a waste of an at bat (save for certain circumstances, like the 3rd baseman losing the function of his legs).
Changing the way you play the game in order to impact statistics other than wins is generally considered a bush league move.
If the change is to proffer respect and consideration for your opponent, it may be forgiven.
If the change is to make yourself or your team look good, or strictly to make an opponent or team look bad, it will not be forgiven.
Meh. Baseball obviously puts a lot of emphasis on statistics other than wins. I don’t see a problem with targeting other statistics. To me, the “unwritten rules” feels too much like the scripting in wrestling. It’s putting storyline above play–make it an actual written rule if it’s so important.
But what if you are playing him again the next day?
Say someone is after the most home runs in a season, he is one short and been there for a while and it might be due to nerves and the season ends tomorrow.
In that case would it make sense to walk him, so he is nervous for the next game rather than risking him getting a home run in garbage time (when there is little to lose if he gets out).
That’s what I’m talking about. No hitters, 50 home runs, double doubles, those are storylines. The play is about doing your best to win the game.
Changing how you play to secure or deny a statistic is scripting, not the other way around. Playing as if the statistic didn’t exist is the opposite of scripting the outcome, it’s playing straight up and letting the stats fall where they may.
But it’s clear that the other statistics do matter. Playing like they don’t is what looks fake, at least to an outsider like me.
The thing is, throwing pitches off the plate to a guy who desperately needs to avoid walking, who will swing at anything because a walk spoils his hitting streak (or whatever), is just smart.
Not only has he put himself in this tight spot, but what’s best for his team, what’s best down 12-0 in the ninth, is him not swinging at garbage. The smart move for him, normally, is to lay off pitches and try to draw a walk, not to put the ball in play.
So by throwing strikes, you’re not only colluding with him on his personal agenda, you’re also doing harm to your own team. He’ll swing at garbage because he needs to avoid a walk? Then you must throw him garbage. If he can find a way to put a pitch two feet off the plate in play, then good for him.
There is absolutely no harm being done to your own team when you’re down 12-0. This is not a complicated point to make. It’s the same reason managers put in position players to pitch - none of the millionaires on and off the field who make their millions of dollars are under the impression that being down 12-0 represents anything resembling hope. The game is all but over - throw the guy some strikes, hope he pops up and go home.
WHy do that, when the batter is committed to swinging at garbage?
Because the concept of “a sporting chance” still exists, and you don’t want your guys to get beaned in tomorrow’s game.
I strongly disagree with the idea of beaning, but I do think that throwing garbage in that situation is a dick move. If he cranks it over the fence, your team is still going to win. So don’t be a jerk and throw him normal pitches.
Because you’re competing against a fellow player in front of a crowd of thousands? You both have spent decades honing your craft to deserve your role competing on the biggest stage in front of a paying crowd. If you want to get him out, stand up there like you deserve to be there and let the people who paid $20-$500+ a ticket see two professionals doing their best.
Or, just roll the fucking ball down there like a clown because your fragile ego can’t stand the idea of him extending a streak by getting a meaningless hit in garbage time. I’m sure that little kid whose attending his first ever baseball game will appreciate your clever gamesmanship.
But it’s not meaningless, as indicated by discussion like this one. People care about stuff like this.
It’s meaningless to the pitcher. If it actually meant something, it’d be a different situation, and the pitcher would do what’s best for winning the game.
Exactly. And he is (in my view) dishonoring the game by swinging at garbage to gain a personal goal. Let’s ay he were my twin brother whom I love more life itself. In this spot, would you have me toss him a batting practice pitch down the center of the plate? Of course not. It’s not my job to help an opponent to get a hit when I have a way to get him out, and it’s a disgrace if I do.
Or say he has an injury that prevents him from getting around on a fastball? Am I then obliged to throw only slow pitches? Again, of course not. It’s my job to take advantage of any edge I happen to hold, within the rules of the game.