Crawford sacrifice bunt? It was his call - 美國職棒

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ANAHEIM, Calif.—Just a guess, but when Red Sox owner John W. Henry signed
off from England on paying Carl Crawford $142 million during a
middle-of-the-night phone call last December from general manager Theo
Epstein, he probably didn’t expect to see the scenario that unfolded here
Thursday night:

Sixth inning of a tie ballgame, runners on first and second, nobody out,
Crawford at the plate, and he…lays down a sacrifice bunt?

The Red Sox, remember, don’t believe in the sacrifice, saying that outs are
too precious to be giving away, and back up their position with a mountain of
statistics. In Terry Francona’s first year as Sox manager, 2004, the Sox had
12 sacrifice hits, last in the American League. In the six seasons since
then, the Sox have never finished higher than 12th in sacrifice hits.

If Francona had a problem with Crawford’s decision to bunt in the sixth, he
wasn’t saying. On the contrary, he defended it, even if it went against the
Sox norm. And this was not a bunt ordered by the manager. Francona confirmed
after Boston’s 4-2, 11-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
that Crawford was bunting on his own.

Here’s how the questioning went.

Bunting on his own?

“Yes, which is OK.’’

Perhaps he was bunting for a hit?

“Again, they (the infielders on the corners) were in. With his speed, there’
s always a chance for a hit, but they were in pretty shallow.’’

So, do you want him bunting in that situation?

“If he feels that’s the best way to get the runner over. With his speed, it
’s hard for him to hit into a double play, but right now he’s trying to
help us. I like that idea.’’

Check Crawford’s resume with the Tampa Bay Rays, and he didn’t bunt much,
either, with a total of six sacrifice bunts in the last four seasons. In that
span, he came to the plate with runners on first and second 145 times; he
sacrificed three times, once in 2010, once in 2009, none in 2008, once in
2007.

How do you explain it? Act of desperation comes to mind. Crawford came into
Thursday’s game ranked last in OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) among
the 196 hitters in the big-leagues with enough at-bats to qualify for the
batting title. Thursday night, Francona had him batting in the seventh spot
in the order for the fourth straight game and fifth overall, but the first
time against a right-handed starter, Angels rookie Tyler Chatwood.

Crawford walked twice, struck out twice, and grounded out against the Angels
in addition to his sacrifice, leaving him with an OPS of .371: an on-base
percentage of .200 and a slugging percentage of .171, with two extra-base
hits, both doubles, in 70 at-bats. His overall batting average is .143.

In the second inning, Crawford had come to the plate with a runner on third
and one out and failed to bring the run home, rolling out to first. He came
to the plate with runners on second and third in the 11th and struck out. He
is now 2 for 20 with runners in scoring position, a .100 batting average.

His problems with RISP are reflective of a ballclub that ranks last in the
majors in that category after going 2 for 18 and leaving 15 runners on base
Thursday. As a team, they’re batting just .190 (32 for 168) with RISP.

“I do think they even out,’’ Francona said of getting better results in
the future. “I can’t wait.’’



六局1,2壘有人 無人出局時

誇佛的那個觸擊是出於他自己的決定 並非粉柯南下達的戰術

誇佛別這麼沒自信嘛...............你可領了20M

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