by Dan Dalessio

Created on: February 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Baseball

And The Lost Art of Bunting

Since the first teams of Baseball began play in 1869 with the New York Knickerbockers, bunting has played a role in the great American pastime. One of the reasons, I suspect, is that not many players could hit the ball for any distance. This is more evident in the "dead ball era" when the home run king led the league with only six home runs. The first home run king was aptly named Frank "home run" Baker. By 1919 and the emergence of a livelier ball, George Herman "Babe" Ruth hit 19 round trippers. Thus, the bunt became as forgotten as last week's news.

I would like to focus on the skill it took to lay down a bunt in the early days of the game. Two basic elements need to be present for a successful bunter and they are, in no particular order, skill and speed. To be good at only one more than likely means failure. Why these elements were more important in the early days of baseball is simple. The pitchers mound was only 50' from home plate as opposed to the modern distance of 60'.6". What difference does that make? Allow me to explain. If the distance is only 50' that means the ball is getting to the plate faster and the batter has little time to react. The pitcher is practically on top of the batter. The batter not only has three-tenths of a second or less to swing his heavy hickory bat, but the pitcher is closer to home plate and has a better chance of throwing the batter out. Bats made of ash were introduced in the middle of the twentieth century because they were lighter and increased a hitters bat speed. The records books will show the increase in home runs by using a lighter bat. Therefore, bunting was not as common or as popular as it once was. Players were swinging for the fences and with good results.

That did not stop the great bunters who were graced with great speed altogether. Those players continued to have success even though they were small in size. It makes sense that a ballplayer who is skillful with a bat and has great speed would bunt has way on base rather than to hit a fly ball for a routine out. Two of the earliest great bunters were "Cap" Anson of the Chicago ball club and "Wee" Willie Keeler of the Baltimore Ravens, now Orioles. Willie Keeler was only 5'5" tall and Cap Anson was not much taller and both weighted under 150 pounds soaking wet. Anson was the first member of the 3,000 hit club and Keeler was just short of making that elite group and both are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown,

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