CC: A dunce with bunts
Yankees hurler takes ridiculous stance
NEW YORK — You know how every one of Adrian Beltre’s teammates, past and present, is aware of how much he hates having his head touched, which is why they pat and rub and slap at his head every opportunity they get?
For that matter, have you ever ribbed a friend or a sibling mercilessly because you know how much he or she hates, say, the sound of a fork scratching against a plate, so you keep “accidentally” doing it at dinner?
Immature? You bet — and oh so entertaining.
With that in mind, we now focus — for a worthwhile reason, I promise — on one of the silliest distractions to this or any other Red SoxYankees series in recent memory. I’m talking about the decision by CC Sabathia to go public about how much he detests bunting. That’s right, bunting. Sabathia hates it, which is exactly why the Red Sox and every other team will keep bunting against him.
As they should, if only for the entertainment value of seeing and hearing how much it bothers a veteran, one who happens to be one of the most likable and sage players in the game.
Except for this bunting phobia.
Bunting is a dirty word in the Sabathia household — “We could be playing a Little League game, my son bunts on me, I’m going to cuss him out, that’s just me, so it is what it is,” Sabathia told reporters before last night’s game. “I’ve always been like that. This is nothing new, and I think a lot of people know that.”
I’m going to venture out on a limb to say that if people didn’t know about Sabathia’s disdain for bunting before Thursday’s series opener, they do now.
Certainly the Red Sox and Eduardo Nunez knew that laying a bunt down with Sabathia on the mound is a winning strategy. He has a bad knee and, because the extra weight he carries does not help his speed and agility when it comes to fielding the bunt, Nunez bunted against him both in early August and again in the first inning Thursday night.
Sabathia was visibly and audibly shook up by the bunt, and later castigated Nunez for doing it, as well as throwing shade at the “weak” character of the Red Sox.
The day after, Sabathia doubled down, opening that weird vein again for all to see and hear.
The Red Sox didn’t even try to keep a straight face.
“It’s a joke — what do you want me to do?” said Nunez, who could not believe it when he heard that Sabathia was still ticked off the day after his start.
“I don’t know what he expects me to do,” said Nunez. “Next time he’ll have to be ready because I want to keep bunting. He’ll have to work on bunting. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll have to work on it. Do early work.”
If Nunez’ complete mockery of Sabathia’s pet peeve does not endear him forever to Red Sox fans, I’m not quite sure what will. He was not done, either.
“If he’s not healthy, go back to the DL,” said Nunez. “It’s simple, I have to bunt. It’s not my problem.
“If I face him next time, if I have to bunt four times, I’ll do it. If he’s going to hit me with a pitch, I’ll take it and steal a base. That’s baseball.”
The baseball angle is what salvages this story from being complete froth. Taking advantage of opponents’ flaws is what all teams do. It’s what advance scouts are paid to do.
A hitter preys on balls in the upper half of the strike zone?
Pitchers will try to avoid it. Employ a defensive shift. A pitcher tends to throw his fastball on a 1-2 count? Hitters will try to sit on it. And that’s why manager John Farrell concluded his dismissal of Sabathia’s complaints with a succinct “You know what, we’re going to do it again.”
“I’m aware of his comments,” said Farrell. “That’s part of the skill package of Eduardo. He’s got speed, he can put the ball on the ground. If he feels like that’s an opportunity for him to take advantage of a certain game situation, that’s what we do. That’s what every team does. You look at ways to take advantage, whether that’s a combination of a pitcher and catcher you can exploit by potentially stealing some bases.”
Thursday night NESN commentator Jim Rice dismissed Sabathia’s objections to Nunez’ bunt, and then for some wrong reason felt compelled to inject Sabathia’s weight issues into the conversation.
Sabathia made the most sense when he rebuked Rice.
“I just hope when I’m that age I’m not that bitter,” said Sabathia, who went on to say, “I’ve been pitching for 17 years at this weight. It is what it is, bro. Do some research on me before you just come out yapping. That has really no bearing on it. I’m a fat guy, so he’s right. It’s not that it’s out of bounds, I guess. That’s just me. It doesn’t matter who’s bunting or who I’m playing. I get pissed when people bunt, period. You’re going to get a reaction out of me.”
Noted, CC — and ignored.