Bottom of the ninth, Reds have two on, none out, and Edwin Encarnacion at the plate. Edwin makes two poor attempts at getting down a bunt. Jeff Brantley isn’t happy about it.
Thom Brennaman: See that’s the problem when you ask a guy who’s never bunted…
Jeff Brantley: Take him out of the game! Take him out of the game.
Thom: Ok, but…
Jeff: If he can’t bunt take him out of the game. Put somebody else in there.
Thom: Ok, but if you believe in the bunt in this situation…
Jeff: You’re at home. You have to tie the game.
Thom: But that’s a by the book kind of thing. I don’t know if there’s anybody on that bench…that you’re going to bring in…
Jeff: This guy is NOT a clutch hitter.
Thom: But his numbers are contrary to that…
Jeff: He’s not. He’s not…not…not a clutch hitter.
(Encarnacion hits 3-run HR to win game)
4 responses so far ↓
1 kirk // Apr 3, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I heard the whole thing. Brantley continues to try to re-create himself as another “I know it all” Marty Brennaman, which reduces his worth in the booth. He was totally made a fool.
2 Ken // Apr 3, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I watched the last three innings on delay late last night, and man was Brantley irritating. He chided Encarnacion for not throwing out someone speedy (Upton, I think) on a slow roller most 3B couldn’t make. Specifically I think he criticized Encarnacion for using his glove. The pick-up-slow-grounder-with-bare-hand-and-throw-in-one-action is more difficult than it looks, jerk. And probably not a great idea for someone whose had some throwing difficulties.
That final AB was so incredibly rewarding. You could hear Brantley’s annoyance grow until it erupted with the “he’s so not clutch” garbage. I think they flashed Encarnacion’s RISP numbers from last year (which were very good) while Brantley was going off, and then the walk-off comes right after that. Just gorgeous.
3 Shinsano // Apr 3, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Also great was Brennaman yelling “Is it clutch?!” as the ball went into the seats.
Brantley tried to backtrack after the fact…”huh huh…I love being proved wrong!” but it came off pretty badly…he was going after Encarnacion and thought he had an easy target to hammer his frustration into.
2007 Reds RISP
(from http://www.seeing-reds.com/)
Griffey .289
Phillips .262
Dunn .222
Encarnacion: .360
4 Gary Garland // Apr 16, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Yes, everybody’s favorite redneck, Jeff Brantley. The guy who accused Chan-ho Park of, and this is a quote, “stealing money” when he didn’t perform after signing a big contract with Texas while not being as harsh with similar white failures such as Mike Hampton.
I have to confess that it drives me bananas when players can’t sacrifice bunt, something they should have learned in A Ball, or fail to hit the cutoff man. So I see where Brantley is coming from to an extent, but still, the reality is that Encarnacion isn’t getting paid to bunt.
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