It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Yep, it’s baseball season.
If you took a survey to find out what people think the most
exciting play in baseball is, I imagine a home run would be the winner. They
might even specify a bases-loaded homer (what we experts call a “grand slam.”
Sometimes you’ll hear someone call it a “grand salami.” If you do, pay no
further attention to them).
Incidentally, the late George Scott—not the actor,
but the power-hitting first baseman of the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee
Brewers—is credited with coining the term “tater” for a home run in the late
1960s.
One theory of where that came from goes something like this: a batter
hits a long home run, somebody says “He really mashed that one,” and someone
else says, “Yep, like a tater.”
I hope that’s how it happened.
In my opinion, an inside-the-park home run is as thrilling
as it gets.
Thrills aside, the plays I appreciate the most are those
that are less exciting but no less important. They’re the ones that require the
batter to give himself up: laying down a sacrifice bunt and hitting behind the
runner.
Allow me to explain a sacrifice bunt.
Let’s say a runner is
or runners are on first and/or second base with less than two outs. The batter
squares around to bunt. That means he faces the pitcher while extending the bat
over the plate. The idea is to let the ball hit the bat. The best bunts happen
when the bat sort of receives the ball, almost gently. Ideally, the ball will
then travel a short distance in front of the plate. The base runner has or the
base runners have seen the third base coach’s bunt sign, so he knows or they
know what’s coming and is or are ready to advance to the next base.
Here’s the important thing: the batter isn’t trying to get a
hit. He’s just wants to get the runners to the next base, from where they are
more likely to be able to score—thus into what we experts call “scoring position.”
It’s called a “sacrifice” bunt because the batter has
sacrificed himself—he has intentionally made an out—in order to help the team.
Baseball’s scoring rules acknowledge the value of the act by not considering an
at-bat that results in a sacrifice bunt “official,” so it doesn’t hurt the
hitter’s batting average.
Hitting behind the runner is even more sacrificial than a
sacrifice bunt. Let me explain how that works.
Again, we have a runner or
runners on base with less than two outs. The batter tries to hit the ball to
the right side of the infield. He does this so the base runner(s) will have a
better chance of advancing. He also does this knowing that he is more likely to
be thrown out at first. This is considered a “productive out,” particularly if
it gets a runner to third with one out, from where he might score in any number
of ways.
Hitting behind the runner isn’t called a sacrifice, but it’s
more sacrificial than a sacrifice bunt, because it counts as an official at-bat
and thus the out hurts the hitter’s batting average.
When a batter successfully hits behind the runner and the
camera follows him into the dugout, you’ll see other players congratulating
him. The announcer will say, “The players know.”
Sometimes somebody around us hits a home run. They may even
hit a grand slam. They may even hit an inside-the-park grand slam. When they
do, they’ll get noticed. They’ll be praised.
And sometimes somebody just lays down a sacrifice bunt or
hits behind the runner.
Pat them on the back. Shake their hand. Thank them.
