Chapter 8

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This week, I watched the World Baseball Classic final between Japan and the U.S. It was a fun game to watch, right down to the wire. In the 9th inning, team U.S. was trailing by only one run and started off the inning with a walk against one of the best pitchers on the planet, Shohei Ohtani. With no outs, the next two batters were Mookie Betts followed by Mike Trout, arguably the two best hitters in MLB over the past decade. Here’s where some strategy comes in. Do you have Betts bunt and move the runner the second or do you have him swing away? There are competing schools of thought on whether to bunt or not nowadays, but if this situation happened 20+ years ago, it was almost guaranteed a bunt would happen. Especially with a fast runner like Betts.

Well, there was no bunt and things didn’t end well for the U.S. Betts promptly grounded into a double play and then Trout struck out, ending the game. Japan basked in yet another WBC triumph and we move onto the regular baseball season where Ohtani and Trout are best buds playing on the same team instead of staring each other down for all the glory. While I’m American and rooted for the U.S., I actually quite enjoyed watching the Japanese team play too. They’re loaded with good players and are fun to watch. No complaints from me regarding the outcome.

I bring this game up because I wonder why the bunt has become almost obsolete in baseball over the past couple decades. I follow the sabermetrics sites (e.g. Fangraphs, Baseball Reference, etc.) and know there are statistics that support not bunting because the value of an out is too high, but there are also statistics that support bunting in the right situation. However, even though some situations (late game, tough pitcher who maybe entices a high percentage of ground balls, speedy runner) call for a bunt, it still rarely is used. Why is that? Another similar situation came up in the 8th inning of Game 5 of last year’s World Series between the Phillies and Astros. A perfect bunt situation came up and was passed over, resulting in a crucial strikeout with a runner on third. I bet Phillies fans now wish Brandon Marsh had bunted. Why does no one want to bunt?

I see a microcosm of our society in the answer to this bunting question. The full name of a bunt is sacrifice bunt. You make a sacrifice of your at bat to move the runner (or runners) into a better scoring position or to actually score if they happen to be on third base. Most of the time, you are going to be out at first and will subsequently park your butt back on the bench while the next batter takes a shot at being the hero. And therein lies what I think is the reason why we have fewer bunts now. There is no glory in the bunt. You don’t get the big contracts, splashy endorsements, or Hollywood actress girlfriends by bunting your way around. Chicks dig the long ball. Fans and Sportscenter highlights dig the heroes who get the runs batted in. I’ve played baseball since I was little, from tee ball through high school, and into N.A.B.A leagues as an adult. As players, we know how meaningful a successful bunt is, but you don’t get the glory of the world making the sacrifice play. Once upon a time, there were players like Brett Butler, Pete Rose, and Rod Carew who were praised for their bunting abilities and it was highly valued. I couldn’t even tell you who is a good bunter in MLB today.

When we take this paradigm from the baseball diamond and move it to real life, we see a similar shift in our society. The sacrifice isn’t the valued play anymore. We’re in a “me first” culture that teaches us to look out for number one only. It’s all about doing what you want, when you want, how you want, everyone else be damned. Taking time out, or sacrificing your time, for good causes isn’t hip or cool. That doesn’t get you sweet IG, FB, or YT channel hits. It seems to be all about the ego today, which is contrary to the life Jesus modeled for us. The author of the ultimate sacrifice provides the ideal example for us to follow. Rather than ascend to the highest heights of this world, which I imagine one could easily do being perfect and all, the Lord sacrificed his time and life to fulfill his Father’s will. He laid down the sacrifice bunt that scored the winning run and won the championship for every one of us. We all win because of his sacrifice.

Sadly, we even see parents today sacrificing less time to do things with their children. I am guilty of this myself sometimes. It’s an easy trap to fall into. In a recent UK study of parents with children up to age six, it found that during an average week, parents spend a total of 32 minutes reading to their children and 43 minutes playing with them. That’s not a daily average…that’s total for a week! And again, that study is for those with really young children. In my experience, time with children seems to diminish as they get into the teens and older with all the activities, friendships, and school stuff that goes on. What can be more important for parents to be doing than spending time with their kids? It’s a good reminder to me that I need to be more present for my kids. The wickedness of this world is getting amped up to 11 these days and if we’re not sacrificing our time to our kids to correct false teachings/doctrine and building up their armor of God, then we are failing our posterity.

We are in a very real war against Satan and his minions. Every day we are confronted with evil skulking about every facet of life. If this battle was a baseball game, I’d guess we’re in the 8th or 9th inning. Each at bat is critical. Are we willing to make the sacrifices needed to win or do we always need to be the hero and go for glory? Is it more important for us to be in the headline or to ensure that we win the game? Each of us has so much to offer those around us. We constantly underestimate our capacity to lift, succor, and help those in need. I often belittle myself thinking, “Who am I to help? What do I have to offer? There are so many others better than me so why bother?” I stay on the sidelines and hide my light under a bushel because I don’t feel like I’m good enough to be playing on the field. This is one of Satan’s best tools…keep you off the field and doing nothing. Well, he’s wrong. You (and I) are good enough to be playing and we’re pretty freaking awesome too. We’re children of God. Our coach is the great Jehovah so just have faith, obey his instructions, and we’ll be just fine. And when you’re up at the plate and he gives you the sign to squeeze…lay down that bunt.