Frustrates me to no end either. I have never understood why ANY hitter that gets the shift put on them doesn't just bunt until they stop shifting. Ortiz, Giambi, just to name a few. I don't think that they are so embarrassed of their bunting as they are embarrassed of getting the "Wussy" hit. I think it takes such an enormous ego to be a successful MLB hitter that it is hard to go away from what your ego is tied to. It is easy for Ichiro to bunt for a base hit because his ego is tied to his speed, and his grace, and his contact abilities. But for Branyan and Giambi and Ortiz their egos are tied up in their lumbering power and patient approaches.
To Branyan's credit I HAVE seen him attempt a bunt of two, and Dave talked about it on the radio the other day we he did try, but I have yet to see him get one down on purpose and keep it foul (he has had a couple of cued jam shots go down the third base line for hits), and he has never attempted a bunt more than once in an AB, so maybe we will see it a few more times from him and once he does get a cheap "double" out of it he will be encouraged to do it more.
One other thing that comes to mind, after watching batters like Yuni, Lopez, Cedeno, and Guti, guys that DO take pride in their bunting and speed, guys that SHOULD be good at it fail time after time, it is quite possible that bunting on a MLB pitcher is harder than you think ;)
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