Given the limitless boundaries of cyberspace, I thought I'd treat everyone to a more expansive version of Willie's explanation for not bunting in the ninth inning of Game 7. It was trimmed considerablyfor Tuesday's newspaper, but here it is, with most of the commentary intact from Monday's sitdown with the beat reporters. Think of it as "Willie, Unplugged." (I'm guessing everyone remembers the circumstances, so I'm not going to repeat them here).
“Do I wish I would have bunted? We had bases loaded for Carlos Beltran so I did bunt. You missed that? Same scenario, right. Just make believe I bunted. It would have been the same thing, right?
I don’t second guess all that stuff, man. If you subscribe to that, then we would have had the same situation. If you believe we would have bunted and Jose Reyes would have hit that ball to center field. If you look at it that way and that’s the way most people look at it. It would have been two outs, Lo Duca would have walked. Same scenario is set up. That’s the way I look at it because no one knows. I don’t believe in that situation in giving up an out. One run down? A tie game? Yeah, I probably do it then. But not with two runs down and you’ve got momentum going
I didn’t send Cliff to hit a three-run homer. I was hoping he’d drive the ball into the gap. He’s an excellent doubles hitter, one of the few guys on my team who doesn’t hit into double plays. He’s a fly ball guy. I’m not thinking he’s going to hit a grandiose home run. He’s going to drive the ball. We’re going to keep the momentum going. We’re going to score a couple of runs. You can look back – and I don’t – and think about what you could have done, should have done. But the bottom line is that thing played out the way we wanted it to. And maybe even better because we had our best hitter, a Cardinal killer, at the plate and with one hit we’re going to the World Series. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Second guess whether I would have bunted or not. Who knows? I might have put Anderson Hernandez up there and in front of 50,000 people, the 20-year-old kid could have [failed]. He might have popped that ball off…or tried to bunt against a guy with a hellacious curveball and a 95 mph fastball and gotten to a point where he had to swing with two strikes on him and he hit into a double play or whatever. …Say Glavine gets a bunt down. There’s no guarantee. It’s not always easy to lay a bunt down, especially when all the money’s on the table like that. …I thought about it. I thought about it way before it came up. But I still felt like with two runs to come across I needed to keep our momentum going.
Hopefully, Cliff would drive a ball in the gap. I just felt like with a tie game or one (run) down, it would have been an easy call for bunt. Outside of that, I didn’t want to give up an out in that situation. In hindsight, it turned out even better, perfectly, for us. Best hitter. This guy killed the Cardinals all series. He threw a nasty curveball and Beltran got locked up. I’d like him to have taken a swing there. But the guy has a great curveball. He made a great pitch. I know that’s part of it, people want to second guess that. But I feel real good about the decisions I made."
Comments (9)
Willie, to borrow his own terminology, is "trippin'". Should have bunted.
Nelson De La Rosa,
Pedro's little midget friend...
1968-2006
Rest in peace little guy.
Bunting with two runners on and needing two to tie, three to win in 7th game with top of the order up would have been stupid. Willie knows what he's doing.
Not stupid at all. Look at it this way:A skillful bunter like Glavine would succeed in that task more often than a skillful hitter in his--only 3x out of 10. Then you have 2 runners in scoring pos. w/only 1 out. Willie's scenario had Floyd, bad leg and all, up there w/the very real risk of hitting into a DP and ruining the inning. I don't buy Willie's portrait of Cliff as a low DP risk for a minute. Willie blew this move, and it sounds like he knows it.
Even with two runners on an one out, a sac fly only scores 1 run and you need 2 to tie. So what does the bunt buy you in that situation? Nothing!
I think Willie made the correct move in putting Floyd up there in that situation. Imagine if Floyd did hit a walk off home run? That would have been a real storybook ending to the game and the series. Even if he drives the ball in the gap the Mets tie the game (remember Endy Chavez was the runner on first). Then the Mets would have, most likely, speedy Andersen Hernandez on second base with one out and a tie score.
Willie made the correct move in that situation.
Willie definitely made the right move. Not only shouldn't he give up an out, but if he bunts successfully, they walk Reyes intentionally to set up the force all around. I'd rather have Reyes up w/the bat in his hands.
That's my point, with only 3 outs left and needing two runs, you can't give up one of the three outs left. Floyd was not a sure DP but a bunt is a sure out.
Shouldn't have been in a "to bunt or not to bunt" situation anyway. The offense collapsed at the worst possible time... and now the Cards have won the Series. Poor playoff baseball all around after the divisions. Mets magic wore off and their vulnerabilities (corner outfield, bottom half of lineup, bench) became insurmountable obstacles. Anxious for Omar's first move!!
Willie's right...I see what he see's in the ninth....and I agree...2 runs down.. not a bunt situation...End of story...do we need Sparky..Billy.. to confirm this ! If Billy had Reggie up or Thurman..Wouldn't have they done the same ?