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Squeeze bunt a bad call
October 7th, 2008, 7:30 am · 8 Comments · posted by JEFF MILLER, OCREGISTER.COM
BOSTON - Mike Scioscia loves the squeeze play.
Everyone knows this, including the Boston Red Sox.
And that’s our biggest problem with his decision Monday to squeeze in the ninth inning and squeeze the Angels out of a chance to take the lead and win Game 4. Well, that, and the fact Erick Aybar didn’t commit to actually bunting the ball.
The squeeze play isn’t like the hit-and-run or emphasizing going first-to-third. Those elements can be part of a team’s strategy, just like they are, in fact, part of the Angels’ way.
But the squeeze play is most effective as a surprise. When everyone senses that it’s coming, the chances of success are greatly decreased.
And the Red Sox saw that one coming Monday.
It was a poorly timed decision executed in even a worse manner.
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It wasn’t a bad call. What hurt the Angels the most was that Scioscia knew they weren’t hitting the ball all that well and had to go to this option. Had the Angel bats been sound, the outcome of this series would have been different.
The squeeze was just one of a collection of manager’s errors by the Angels. You don’t squeeze when everybody and their grandma knows it’s coming. Particularly, with a left-handed batter! How stupid can you get? But leaving in Howie Kendrick was a bigger mistake. He left 14 men on base! He was feeble at the plate. You got to get him out of there. There’s no one on the Angel bench who can play 2nd base and can at least put the ball in play? Then leaving Shields in to pitch in the 9th. Once he was in trouble…get someone out of that pen. Shields troubles at Fenway are well documented. Plus Lowrie batting lefty…where was Kendrick? Shouldn’t he have been playing more towards 1st base? Too many mental & physical errors, minimal timely hitting, base running blunders and manager mistakes. That’s how you achieve an early exit to the playoffs. It’s appalling.
This bonehead play just goes to show that Mike Scoscia still thinks it’s 2002. It is so over for this squad as we know it, and for the Angels to say “despite losing, we’re still better than Boston” (see other OC Register story) is more proof that the 2008 Angels are a bunch of crybaby losers. This series wasn’t even close and the Angels aren’t half the team they claim to be!
Mike is so arrogant and desparate to get into the game, the best thing a manager can do in that situation is sit on his hands and let the players play.
Aybar has 0 squeeze bunts this year and in that situaton runner on 3rd less than two outs hit .529 this season.
firemikescoscia.com join the bandwagon.
All Aybar needed to do was put the bat on the ball and he couldn’t. Whether he was bunting or trying to hit a sac fly he was unable to perform the fundamentals of baseball. None of the Angels could because they were swinging way to slow and hard. The ball was in the catchers glove before they swung. Short fast swings fellas. Learn how to hit! I saw a book at the library the other day I think you should read. Its called hitting for dummies. They even had a version in Spanish so Vlad can read it too.
Aybar had just flied out to deep center the at bat before this. Aybar does not strike out a lot, only 11 in his last 100 or so at bats. He came through the night before. All he needed was a weak grounder, a chopper, a fly ball, heck, a single? Instead, not only do we force him to bunt, we all know he is a slash bunter, not a funndamentally sound sac bunter, but we do it with the infielders playing extremely close and on a 2-0 count, when the first two pitches suggested they knew what was coming. A suicide squeeze rarely works. You have to get the bunt on the ground, the runner needs a good break from 3rd, and you want it to not be right at the pitcher. What can go wrong? Foul ball, pop up, bunt too hard, etc. When it fails, your inning is done. Except for this team, the season was done. If you told me the season would come down to a suicide bunt by eric aybar in the 9th inning in fenway, I wouldn’t have watched, and I would have bet that it didn’t work out. It’s mickey mouse baseball deciding the outcome of a supposed big money team? Arte should be embarrassed. Why sign teix or hunter when aybar and willits are deciding the season on a suicide squeeze. it’s a joke, and it’s a theme of scioscia’s 1-10 record over the last 3 playoff series.
Allen Richard is completely right. Although I would trust Willits and Aybar just as much as I would Teix or Torii.
I agree with Allen! What was mike over-managed scioscia thinking?? 2-0 and hes basically throwing hardddd 96mph inside? Take a pitch or walk and let figgins do it. Trust your players!!! The angels had 2 outs to play with and Mike acted as if it there was only 1 out left. When a team’s manager gets desperate it will show and the team will fall!!!! Thats why i believe Mike Scioscia lost it in the playoffs and his team followed.