We’re talking about bunting on a holiday weekend!
First Pitch: 1:10 PM CT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: D-Rays Bay
Because this is Independence Day weekend and most folks will either be squeezing in one last cookout, piling into the car for the long drive home, or tending to fireworks-induced bodily mishaps instead of intensely involved in Twinkie Town game threads, I’m going to take the opportunity to muse on one of my favorite baseball topics: bunting.
I fully admit that analytical data-crunching has “proven bunting wrong”, so to speak. In all but the most outlier scenarios (more on this later—hahaha), it is not advisable to give up an out to either score one run or move runner(s) up a station.
Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images
But when I see runners on 1st & 2nd and anyone-but-the-big-slugger at the dish, there’s a little radar blip that goes off in my head saying “I’d bunt them over here”. It would 100% be what gets me fired if my Little Big League managerial dream scenario ever pans out.
So, instead of trying to justify bunting, I looked at it throughout the history of the Minnesota Twins organization—finding three distinct “bunt eras”, if you will…
1961-1980: 76 sac bunts (average-per-Twins-season)
- High: 142 in 1979. Led by Rob Wilfong (25—league leading), John Castino (22), Roy Smalley (15), Bombo Rivera (13), & Bob Randall (13)
Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images
- Low: 34 in 1973. Led by Jerry Terrell (10)
Skipping over the 1981 strike-addled season…
1982-2017 (minus ‘94/’95 strike seasons): 34 sac bunts per year
- High: 52 in 2008. Led by Alexi Casilla (13—league leading), Denard Span (8), Brendan Harris (7), & Adam Everett (6)
- Low: 18 in 1998. Led by Otis Nixon (4)
2018-2024 (minus ‘20 pandemic season): 11 sac bunts per year
- High: 19 in 2018. Led by Ehire Adrianza (4) & Jorge Polanco (3)
- Low: 7 in 2021. Led by Andrelton Simmons (3)
This brings us to 2025, where until Saturday afternoon YOUR Minnesota Twins had produced exactly two sac bunts—one from ‘25 legend Kody Clemens and another a squeeze play (OMG!) from exactly who you would expect…
Photo by Steven King/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Clearly the art, skill, and usage of bunting has gone the way of the dinosaurs or bi-partisan politics. Probably for good reason from a win-expectancy mindset.
Of course, the sport of baseball always surprises you. For example: pre-writing a “bunting is cool but probably out-dated” piece and then this happens the day before it publishes…
I’m not complaining, though—between yesterday and the infamous walk-off walk of 2022, I love seeing old-school baseball thumb its nose at the probabilities now and again.
With Joe Ryan on the mound and looking for the sweep this Fourth of July weekend-ender, it could be another small-ball race to a few runs for the victory!
