COTUT Surprise

[JoeDirt]

One thing that surprised me at the COTUT was the lack of pitcher bunts when there was a man on 1st (or 1st and 2nd) with less than two outs.

I would think this strategy is applicable in both curve and straight, as pitcher double players are extremely common.

What gives?  Why don't most of you favor the pitcher bunt?  I'd probably rather take a pitcher SO than let him swing away in that situation...

[Gantry]

Can't speak for curve, the but in straight bunt will result in a DP a good percentage of the time.  I guess I can't give a percentage though because nobody does it anymore.  In straight, a soft hit down the 3rd base line is much more effective.  Though that is probably tough to pull off consistently in curve...

[OzzieLongBall]

I agree with the pitcher bunt.. I only play curve style however.. In fact, i STILL bunt with the pitcher in key situations with 2 strikes on him.. I would rather take the chance of a foul ball strike out than risk putting the ball on the ground in play, nearly a sure double play... This is only when a person without exceptional speed (vince, ozzie, willie on my cards) is on first though...

[Baines]

I've always been a fan of the pitcher bunt but I always try to angle it down one of the lines instead of holding the bat straight out.  Lately though unless the game is on the line we've mostly been swinging away in hopes of seeing a pitcher HR because we've had a couple close calls.

[SmokedUBad13]

I don't think that a lack of pitcher bunts was a COTUT surprise.  In the COTUTs that I have witnessed, very few players have actually tried to bunt.

Personally, I am a much stronger hitter without bunting when my pitcher is up.  Jim Callan (Jcbball86) can attest that I have several pitcher hits against him when we play each other.  There was also another opponent that I destroyed with my little pitcher pop flies IN the COTUT, forget who that was though...  but I had at least two, maybe three pitcher line drives against him.

Beales
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT

[JoeDirt]

You had one or two key pitcher hits against me, you bastard...but I regard pitcher hits as luck, not skill...not to take anything away from you, 'cause I also regard you as a very solid playa.

[jcbball86]

Beales, you have hit a couple times with pitchers, but not that often.  I myself would rather pitch 3 down the middle to the pitcher to conserve pitches and take my chances with the pitcher (who probably gets 1 hit per 15 at bats) than actually pitch to the pitcher like you and try for a strikeout.  It ends up being double the pitches and if a pitcher bats 4 times a game, thats a lot of pitches.  Plus, most teams have bad leadoff hitters so i can just get a double play or easy out or whatever.

[ultimate7]

Smoked also had a huge 2 out hit with Bruce Hurst against me (grounder to the 2nd basemen running to cover 1st) followed by a 3 run homer, by Armas (or whoever he had in the leadoff spot Henderson?) that cost me the games

[Mike D.]

I used to use the pitcher bunt to hit in the park homers.  Properly placed against the computer, and the infielder will chase it all the way to the wall.

[GDavis]

The bunt is useless.  You dolt.

[OzzieLongBall]

Although I get your point, the computer is so heinously bad, that a pitcher bunt for an HR is hardly even necessary... Imagine if RBI had a competitive computer (ala Tecmo Super Bowl) that got better as the season went on?? I mean the game is perfect, and I dare not question the RBI Gods, but it's just a thought...

[ultimate7]

Yeah Tecmo season's against the computer are still cool, usually once a year I'll try to take NE or IND and see if I can win the SuperBowl, usually lose 1 or 2 regular season games.

[OzzieLongBall]

I hear ya... u gotta take advantage of multi-player seasons tho... Getting together a couple guys of different skill levels, and then handicapping a division is really fun (ie: best guy gets bills, worst gets pats/colts).. As for playing with the pats/colts, yea i always seem to lose one game somehow.. and its usually complete BS, like having 3 punt returns fumbled by a returner in average or better condition (yes that actually happened).. oh well, still an amazing game way ahead of its time..

[SmokedUBad13]

You had one or two key pitcher hits against me, you bastard...but I regard pitcher hits as luck, not skill.

JoeDirt: Agreed (I am a bastard) and agreed (I also regard pitcher hits as lucky).  My point wasn't that pitcher hits are skill.  My point was that I think I'm better off swinging than bunting with the pitcher at the plate.

Beales, you have hit a couple times with pitchers, but not that often.  I myself would rather pitch 3 down the middle to the pitcher to conserve pitches and take my chances with the pitcher (who probably gets 1 hit per 15 at bats) than actually pitch to the pitcher like you and try for a strikeout.  It ends up being double the pitches and if a pitcher bats 4 times a game, thats a lot of pitches.  Plus, most teams have bad leadoff hitters so i can just get a double play or easy out or whatever.

Callan: Although this is all personal opinion, I disagree with you.  I can't see pitching three down the middle and risking a crappy pitcher hit.  At the very least, I prefer to pitch outside so that a decent hit is unlikely.  I will admit that I go for the pitcher strikeout when I'm up against quality players.  My idea behind these strikeouts though is to only use 5 pitches max (this works about 60% of the time).  So I don't think an extra two pitches is going to hurt my pitchers' stamina that badly.  About the bad leadoff hitters... most good players pinch hit for them (Ex. Speier for Uribe or Burks for Barrett).

Smoked also had a huge 2 out hit with Bruce Hurst against me (grounder to the 2nd basemen running to cover 1st) followed by a 3 run homer, by Armas (or whoever he had in the leadoff spot Henderson?) that cost me the game.

ultimate7: Yes, you're absolutely right.  Hurst was the lifesaver that kept my inning alive, thus enabling Henderson to slam the game winning homer.

Beales
www.rbibaseballcotut.com - The R.B.I. Baseball COTUT