It may be one of Barry Zito’s most memorable plays at the plate, and one he said he’ll never forget.
With two out in the 4th inning of Game 5 of the 2012 NLCS, Zito saw David Freese playing back at 3rd base and decided to lay a bunt down the 3rd base line. Zito told Murph and Mac on Wednesday morning that he was following the direction of something then Giants 3rd Base Coach Tim Flannery told the San Francisco pitchers in spring training.
“Was that (bunt) on your own, or did Flan give you the sign?” Brian Murphy asked.
“That was on my own. Yeah Flannery was our bunting guru,” Zito began. “He would teach all the pitchers in spring to bunt, and we would all get really good at bunting. At the end of the bunting practice every day, he’d be like ‘Alright, here’s what we do. Two outs, third baseman’s playing back, you see him…you’re peeking and you see him back and there’s a guy on third, and you’re just going to sneak one in there.
“So I mean, that’s all Flannery right there. And I saw David Freese playing back and was like, ‘no chance I’m getting a hit, so…’”
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