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<!--quoteo(post=52658:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:45 AM:name=sleepyhead)-->QUOTE (sleepyhead @ Jul 28 2009, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52657:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:43 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 09:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52655:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:41 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 09:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->How many successful bunts have you guys seen Fontenot pull off? It isn't so easy to get a bunt down if you aren't called on to sacrifice very often. It's even harder when you're facing a spastic potbellied flamethrower who couldn't find the strike zone and had walked three batters before you got to the plate.
Getting a successful bunt down isn't any more automatic than hitting a fly ball. Fontenot has hit hundreds of fly balls this season. How many bunts do you think he's attempted?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I can't even recall a single successful bunt attempt by him ever.
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I said last night that if a bunt was the plan all along, it should have been Blanco PH'ing. If not, it should have been Fox to put it into the air. Either way my biggest problem was the personnel choices, not the decision to squeeze.
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If Blanco would have been sent up there, then everyone would have known that the squeeze was going to be on.
I commend Lou for being aggressive and trying to win the game right there but Fontenot has got to execute. First thing to do on a squeeze play and is fucking square up to bunt. He was late doing that and that's why he missed the ball.
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<!--quoteo(post=52664:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:56 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 09:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yeah, I can agree with all of that. And I don't really care anymore, aside from the fact that the game dragged on for hours and I feel tired as shit this morning.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
We fucking won! Fuckin' A!
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<!--quoteo(post=52664:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:56 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 10:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Yeah, I can agree with all of that. And I don't really care anymore, aside from the fact that <b>the game dragged on for hours and I feel tired as shit this morning.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
At least you live in the Central time zone. The game didn't end for me until midnight and I was at my desk this morning at 7:00 AM EDT. West coast games suck even worse.
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<!--quoteo(post=52665:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:57 AM:name=Croz)-->QUOTE (Croz @ Jul 28 2009, 09:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52658:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:45 AM:name=sleepyhead)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sleepyhead @ Jul 28 2009, 09:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52657:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:43 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 09:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52655:date=Jul 28 2009, 09:41 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 09:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->How many successful bunts have you guys seen Fontenot pull off? It isn't so easy to get a bunt down if you aren't called on to sacrifice very often. It's even harder when you're facing a spastic potbellied flamethrower who couldn't find the strike zone and had walked three batters before you got to the plate.
Getting a successful bunt down isn't any more automatic than hitting a fly ball. Fontenot has hit hundreds of fly balls this season. How many bunts do you think he's attempted?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I can't even recall a single successful bunt attempt by him ever.
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I said last night that if a bunt was the plan all along, it should have been Blanco PH'ing. If not, it should have been Fox to put it into the air. Either way my biggest problem was the personnel choices, not the decision to squeeze.
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If Blanco would have been sent up there, then everyone would have known that the squeeze was going to be on.
I commend Lou for being aggressive and trying to win the game right there but Fontenot has got to execute. First thing to do on a squeeze play and is fucking square up to bunt. He was late doing that and that's why he missed the ball.
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Again -- how many bunts have you seen Fontenot execute? I can't think of one. Yet Lou sends him up there against Valverde with the game on the line and asks him to execute a squeeze play with Bradley barreling down the line. Yeah...seems like a solid idea.
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Any MLB player should have been able to get that bunt down. Quit making excuses for Fontenot.
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<!--quoteo(post=52677:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM:name=Coach)-->QUOTE (Coach @ Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Any MLB player should have been able to get that bunt down. Quit making excuses for Fontenot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm not making excuses for him. I just don't think anybody should be surprised that he didn't execute there -- including Lou.
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<!--quoteo(post=52683:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:31 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52677:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM:name=Coach)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Coach @ Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Any MLB player should have been able to get that bunt down. Quit making excuses for Fontenot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm not making excuses for him. I just don't think anybody should be surprised that he didn't execute there -- including Lou.
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All he had to do was foul it off. Anyone could do that. Jim Abbott could do that. That should have been the worst thing that could happen (or a popup). He completely missed it. If he fouls it off, he can then take a shot at not striking out or popping up.
I'm not saying the bunt was the absolute right thing to do. I'm not saying it was even the best option. I am saying it was justifiable, and that it wasn't retarded or obviously a bad move, as many in the thread were implying. You can disagree with the move, but to imply that Lou was an idiot for even trying it, is completely unfair.
I wish that I believed in Fate. I wish I didn't sleep so late. I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders.
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Try asking 99% of the sluggers (not saying that Fontenot is one) out there to lay a perfect bunt down, especially in a squeeze situation, and then get back to me about every ballplayer being able to lay down a bunt. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you are never asked to do so.
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If most pitchers in the NL can lay down a bunt, then Fontenot should be able to do it. Even pitchers who suck at it at least usually make some sort of contact on a pitch right down the middle. That was an awful effort.
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<!--quoteo(post=52689:date=Jul 28 2009, 08:42 AM:name=rok)-->QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 08:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Try asking 99% of the sluggers (not saying that Fontenot is one) out there to lay a perfect bunt down, especially in a squeeze situation, and then get back to me about every ballplayer being able to lay down a bunt. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you are never asked to do so.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He didn't have to lay down the perfect bunt. He pretty much could have put it anywhere on the ground, and it's game over. The debate isn't about Fontenot bunting well. It's about him just bunting it period.
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<!--quoteo(post=52691:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM:name=vegascub)-->QUOTE (vegascub @ Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->If most pitchers in the NL can lay down a bunt, then Fontenot should be able to do it. Even pitchers who suck at it at least usually make some sort of contact on a pitch right down the middle. That was an awful effort.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most NL pitchers probably practice bunting a whole lot more than Fontenot does.
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<!--quoteo(post=52694:date=Jul 28 2009, 08:57 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 08:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52691:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM:name=vegascub)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vegascub @ Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->If most pitchers in the NL can lay down a bunt, then Fontenot should be able to do it. Even pitchers who suck at it at least usually make some sort of contact on a pitch right down the middle. That was an awful effort.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most NL pitchers probably practice bunting a whole lot more than Fontenot does.
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Fair enough. But he is a big league ball player. I'm sure he's worked on it before.
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<!--quoteo(post=52694:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:57 AM:name=Butcher)-->QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 10:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52691:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM:name=vegascub)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (vegascub @ Jul 28 2009, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->If most pitchers in the NL can lay down a bunt, then Fontenot should be able to do it. Even pitchers who suck at it at least usually make some sort of contact on a pitch right down the middle. That was an awful effort.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most NL pitchers probably practice bunting a whole lot more than Fontenot does.
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Bingo. And again, I've never seen him lay down a successful bunt, perfect or otherwise, and it isn't an excuse. Just an awkward situation to be in.
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<!--quoteo(post=52693:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:56 AM:name=vegascub)-->QUOTE (vegascub @ Jul 28 2009, 10:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52689:date=Jul 28 2009, 08:42 AM:name=rok)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (rok @ Jul 28 2009, 08:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Try asking 99% of the sluggers (not saying that Fontenot is one) out there to lay a perfect bunt down, especially in a squeeze situation, and then get back to me about every ballplayer being able to lay down a bunt. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when you are never asked to do so.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
He didn't have to lay down the perfect bunt. He pretty much could have put it anywhere on the ground, and it's game over. The debate isn't about Fontenot bunting well. It's about him just bunting it period.
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A 95 mph fastball on the outside corner with Milton Bradley coming down the line at you in your peripheral vision and the game on the line...
I'd say you have to be a pretty solid bunter to make that happen.
Should he have made contact? Probably. But nobody should be surprised that he fucked it up.
It's also kind of funny that he hit a deep fly ball to end his AB.
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<!--quoteo(post=52687:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:41 AM:name=BT)-->QUOTE (BT @ Jul 28 2009, 10:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52683:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:31 AM:name=Butcher)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Butcher @ Jul 28 2009, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=52677:date=Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM:name=Coach)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Coach @ Jul 28 2009, 10:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Any MLB player should have been able to get that bunt down. Quit making excuses for Fontenot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm not making excuses for him. I just don't think anybody should be surprised that he didn't execute there -- including Lou.
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All he had to do was foul it off. Anyone could do that. Jim Abbott could do that. That should have been the worst thing that could happen (or a popup). He completely missed it. If he fouls it off, he can then take a shot at not striking out or popping up.
I'm not saying the bunt was the absolute right thing to do. I'm not saying it was even the best option. I am saying it was justifiable, and that it wasn't retarded or obviously a bad move, as many in the thread were implying. You can disagree with the move, but to imply that Lou was an idiot for even trying it, is completely unfair.
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Totally agree. We are talking about a guy that is a 5'9 utility player with a little pop. He only has around 700 some odd at bats in his career. They practice bunts everyday in batting practice and I am sure he had plenty of chances in the minors which for him wasn't so long ago. He totally whiffed on a 95 mph fastball that was right down the pipe. It was the perfect pitch to bunt.
I agree that Lou should of went with Fox considering the circumstances. However that should not excuse Font from not executing what he was called on to do. It didn't even have to be a perfect bunt. All you have to do on a squeeze is put the damn bat on the ball and that guy from third scores.
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