by gutter huggers » Sat May 22, 2010 2:13 am
I think "don't bunt," is not the same as "never bunt."
Just as, remove after 6 Ip, sometimes gives the pitcher a 7th IP.
Hal may be just setting it as the third leg of the standard deviation, so that, a possibility of the bunt, or keeping a pitcher in for another IP, is about 100-1. Could happen. That's not a glitch, it's keeping a human element in the game.
Maybe they crossed up signs, or the guy was feuding with the manager, or just really wants to lay down the bunt.
It introduces a Human element to the game. My advice is, don't worry about it too much, we all deal with the same thing. The playing field is even.
It looks like Hal, doesn't see, "don't, as never." So, once in a year or two, the guy bunts to get on base, as the leadoff hitter. The odds on that aren't terrible, and rarely cost a game. It did cost an injury reveal. But that doesn't hurt the season. Signals get mixed up, mistakes happen, That's Baseball.
Hey, your only the owner, not the hitter. You can issue the orders, it doesn't garuantee the manager, or the hitter will obey.
Hal is pretty consistent, and don't never means never... Hal has his own philosophy of life, and that is why we call him Hal.
If the guy had laid down the bunt, for a single, you'd never know. And that may have happened at some other time. The odds were only about 100-1, so - you never know.
Good Luck.