Media rant of the week

This week's winner: Burt Graeff

In the local media's 147th treatise on the bunting woes of the 2005 Indians, Burt brings us this harrowing narrative from the Indians' September 28 loss to the Devil Rays, 1-0. He writes:

"Ben Broussard opened the inning with a double off Seth McClung. Up came Aaron Boone. Twice ordered to bunt, he popped the first attempt foul and dribbled the second outside the third-base line. Boone subsequently bounced out, Casey Blake grounded out and Sizemore popped out to end the threat in what became a 1-0 loss."

Funny thing about this example. Even had the sac bunt been successful, the Indians probably still wouldn't have scored that run. Blake grounded out to third, and it's unlikely that a runner on 3B would score on that play. It's more likely he'd be caught off-base and thrown out in fact.

(Yes, yes, I know, the whole inning would have unfolded differently had the bunt been successful. But let's face facts here, Casey Blake was at the plate with the tying run in scoring position. Do we really, honestly think it was going to unfold any differently?)

The Bunt Story has been written 146 times already and is, at best, two percent of the reason the Indians didn't make the playoffs. Here's one of the many other reasons: Sizemore and Crisp hit .159 that final week, with a .208 on-base average. They scored one run, total, in the last seven games. Funny ... I don't remember reading 147 stories about that.

When your 1-2 hitters aren't getting on base, isn't it obvious that bunting is not really the problem?