Lost in the well-deserved excitement of Edgar Renteria's historic three-run homer, Aubrey Huff's sacrifice bunt which preceded it was my favorite moment of the World Series.
The bunt didn't change the score, thanks to the homer, but something about it was just thrilling, when it occurred. We were clearly seizing the upper hand against Cliff Lee, with runners at first and second and no outs. Then Huff comes up and I thought,"Now would be a perfect time to bunt, but Huff never bunts, so never mind," and BAM he hits an awesome bunt, and I know "bam" is not a word associated with bunts, but this was a manly bunt, a vigorous bunt; a shot between the mound and first. Lee had to act fast and he ended up making an awkward throw for the out.
And this was the moment I knew we were going to win.
It turns out Huff had NEVER put down a sacrifice bunt in his entire career. But he did it this time, and he did it without hesitation, and he did it perfectly. So with runners on second and third and just one out, our chances of getting at least one run were excellent. But poor sad Pat the Bat K'd again. It would have so sweet if he could have even hit a middling fly ball then. A run scores, we win, he's the hero. But no, that mantle would go to Renteria in the next at bat.
2 comments:
And Bochy didn't use the bunt play much. I don't think he likes bunting except in obvious situations. Sure was a great play. I thought it was going to be a hit but Lee showed some nice glove work there. Burrell's whiff was a crusher, but it was all forgotten after Renteria's bomb.
Lee flashed some nice leather twice during the game. He robbed Huff of a bunt hit, and it almost looked as if he decided to try to bunt for a hit and not just a sacrifice. Lee also made a nice play on Sanchez linedrive up the middle. Would have been a hit with many a pitcher on the mound.
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