Shane Victorino Answers Question by Winking

Why is Shane Victorino bunting?  Why hasn’t he bunted so much before?  Why would he try to bunt twice in one game?  Is he going to bunt during the regular season?  Will he do anything other than bunt in 2011?  Does he feel like a coward for converting to an “all-bunts” offense?

"“When asked after the game, Victorino only winked.”—Philadelphia Inquirer"

It’s not really a mystery when somebody does something like “bunt” twice in one game, especially in a game that doesn’t matter.  I would assume it was because that was the day he had chosen to sharpen a particular skill.  Today, that skill was bunting.  Tomorrow, it will be knife-throwing.  I didn’t say baseball skills.

Charlie Manuel said that bunts were the “ideal” way for a guy like Shane (Quick, like a frantic squirrel) to get on base.  But bunting is more than just allowing the ball to hit the bat, as everyone knows.  In my own attempts as a lad, I had a hard time developing the skill without involving my fingers, or a few times, my teeth.  Then there’s always well-received “bunt-line-drive-directly-into-the-pitcher’s-glove-that-he-doesn’t-even-realize-he-caught.”  Shane, however, was able to turn his attempt at a hit into an actual hit (in one out of two tries), a baseball skill I was never able to grasp.

Before the press surrounded Shane with vicious interrogations regarding his new strategy after the Phillies 6-5 loss to the O’s on Wednesday, they may have considered that he was merely improving his bunts so as to avoid just the humiliating fate I’ve just described.

The bigger question still seeks resolution:  How will we communicate with Shane’s new “winks-only” language?