Incorrect, it may seem conflicting and strange, but that was the reason.
If you recall the meeting where the board of owners of the team brought the manager in to give him the "baseball strategy" for the game, they told him that losing to the Giants and having whitey break his record, would be an embarrassment to the team.
Then when the bases are loaded with 2 outs and they have no choice but to pitch to Jack, the one executive says to the boss:
"the bases are loaded....what will Uchiyama do?"
The big boss man then says "Uchiyama knows who pays his salary. He'll go for the bunt".
This implies that their overriding concern was not having the American cracker break the record, even in spite of possibly losing to the hated rival Giants.
The irony of course, is that Uchiyama defied the bosses, told him to swing away even at the risk of breaking his own record, Jack takes it upon himself to bunt dramatically ala Jake Taylor in Major League, it works and the Dragons win after all, and the big bosses feel like the manager followed their orders based on this result even though he actually defied them.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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sstarl1324
12 years ago
Ah but would not the Giants have expected a bunt for the same reason? Surely they would have been looking for it knowing (or thinking) no one in the stadium wanted the record broken.
Remember Rabbit Ears with tin foil?
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HowYaLikeDemApplesWill
12 years ago
Yes, you would think so.
However, apparently Jack didn't think so, and thus why he decided to do it on his own, and why it worked. Of course just like my Major League example, this is not very realistic, especially if there was two outs and if you are thrown out at first base (a high likelihood for a player at the end of his career with bad knees), the run is not going to count.
Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
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sstarl1324
12 years ago
Sure would have been a surprise ending if he would have bunted and got thrown out and they lost huh? Well not for me. I am a Red Sox fan and so I would expect something like that to happen.
Remember Rabbit Ears with tin foil?
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jivaro1138
11 years ago
I think the Giants were expecting the American to be dishonorable and swing away...since he already did it in the past.
Jack seemed to know he would be underestimated...so he tricked the Giants pitcher by doing what wasn't expected. It also showed how Jack came around; being a team player rather than having to swing for the fence every time.
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