How big must the lead be before bunting for a base hit breaches etiquette?

[Trombone482]

Just wanted to say something after watching the 8th inning here. Why was Erstad trying to bunt for a base hit? You have a three run lead, if you want to get the runner over fine but just swing the bat! No need to be trying to bunt for a base hit. Moderators feel free to lock this if you wish as I have also posted this in the vent thread.

[wibadgers23]

Just wanted to say something after watching the 8th inning here. Why was Erstad trying to bunt for a base hit? You have a three run lead, if you want to get the runner over fine but just swing the bat!! No need to be trying to bunt for a base hit

A three run lead in the 8th is nothing. Especially against a high powered offense like the Brewers. I don't think there's anything wrong with it.

[wisconsinfan47]

A 3-run lead when the home team has 6 outs to go is never safe. Not even close.

[SeriesFinale]

Yeah, I have no issue with that whatsoever...maybe if we were talking about a 10 run lead in the top of the 9th (which we may yet see, ugh), it might be piling it on, but the game was still tight, at the time.

[Trombone482]

I just think why not play station to station baseball there

[1992casey]

Moderators feel free to lock this if you wish as I have also posted this in the vent thread.

 

I hid the post in the vent thread to channel discussion over here. Also, I rewrote the thread title so it'd be clear that we were discussing the general concept of bunting etiquette rather than just a single game (in-game thread) situation.

[dadofandrew]

Bunting for a base hit is never bad etiquette, in my view. The game is about not getting out, and you can't stall the game away. Do what you do best.

[JJHardy7]

Getting on base is what baseball is all about. I don't ask for pity on the Brewers when they give up a bunch of runs. As we've seen many times, there aren't too many leads that are "safe".

[mothershipconnection]

This is professional sports, do what you can within the rules to win. I've never had any disdain for "running up the score" and such, because the other team is being paid millions of dollars to compete at the highest level. If they can't hang, boo-hoo. Now, in the amateur ranks, it's a little different as you don't want to go out of your way to embarrass a bunch of kids, but go right ahead and embarrass a guy like Jeff Suppan, as he's allegedly a major league pitcher.

[DuWayne Steurer]

You can never have enough runs in a baseball game. There's no timer that stops the game. The losing team gets an opportunity to score runs until they run out of outs. The Brewers came back from a 9-0 deficit vs. the Reds a few years back. Heck, just last year the Brewers blew how many 3+ run leads? I think the number was around 18, IIRC.

[rluzinski]

I just don't get it. It's not OK to try and get a single via a bunt but it's perfectly acceptable to swing for the fences? I'll never get this "rules".