Several years back, I was watching a baseball game featuring my favorite team, the Chicago Cubs. The details of that game in particular don’t stand out in my mind barring one particular line from the then-Cubs broadcast team of Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies. It was in reference to a player who had recently bunted for a double and to this day, I’ve never been able to get it out of my head: “I guess you could say he bunts for power.”

From the moment I heard that line, I knew I wanted to one day incorporate it into some sort of baseball project. I’ve always had a sick fascination with the weirdest aspects of baseball and that line embodied everything about the stories I wanted to tell. Stories that express my own bizarre perspective, but hopefully reflect something about America’s pastime and its ability to create personal memories that stick with us. Everyone who has fallen in love with baseball likely has a story to tell about a particular moment that, while not huge in the grand scheme of things, sticks out in their mind for how silly, emotional, or downright amazing it was.

This is a really long-winded way to say welcome to Bunting For Power, an admittedly way too long in-the-works blog for me to share some of my favorite weird stories from obsessing about baseball and review what’s going on in the game. My name is Ryan O’Rourke and I’ve been writing about baseball for a while (FanSided’s Cubbies Crib contributor since 2019(!)) though I’ve long wanted to do more and in a somewhat creative way. While this won’t take precedence over my main job – covering the latest in television, film, and the entertainment industry in general at Collider – I’m excited to finally talk about baseball in the silliest way I can.

What To Expect From Bunting For Power

I struggled for the longest time to think of how exactly the idea for this blog would take shape. Satire? News and analysis? Opinions? Historical deep dives? A little of all of the above? Instead, I made my decision after a discussion with my family about a few of the weird little moments we remember fondly.

Bunting For Power is a site about digging way too much into dumb stuff that isn’t really about the best teams or who wins or loses. I want to talk about the weird reasons I like certain players, the retroactive joy I get watching managers lose their cool and say hilarious lines after an ejection, off-the-field capers that live rent-free in my head, or just memes. For me, it’s an exploration of my own love of the sport and the weirder memories I’ve made watching with the people I love. In other words, this blog is one giant baseball dumpster. A (hopefully) entertaining dumpster with compelling stories built around these silly little moments, but a dumpster nonetheless.

That’s not to say everything here will be completely silly. My hope is to provide news round-ups and looks into the absurdity of baseball (as my schedule allows). Since much of the content here is history-based, I’d also like to compound on that by discussing some of my favorite players, talking about Hall of Fame cases, or presenting stories I just really enjoy. It’s really anything goes here, with a focus on the absurd.

Occasionally, I’ll also do some non-baseball writing just for fun. Nothing more to it, just might do something about video games or something else random when I feel like it. Don’t expect it often, but it will happen.

What To Expect From Me

Now, I am still fairly new to running a site, so I fully expect some hiccups as I get everything here squared away. I am also completely alone in this venture. Everything you see on Bunting For Power is written by me unless otherwise attributed. There may be typos and other goofs as things get going here, but bear with me. My promise to you here is a constantly improving site that I can be proud of and you can waste however much time you want on.

As mentioned, I have other pressing responsibilities outside of this blog. My goal is to start with a few posts a week with most content coming on my most flexible days. Likely, these first few weeks could be a bit slower as I integrate this into my schedule. In a perfect world, I would love to do this full-time (or at least more than a hobby), but we’ll see where this takes us. Otherwise, this site is all about having some fun and talking about baseball on my terms, and anyone who finds what I write about interesting is more than welcome to tag along.

There is so much more to come from here and the only way to see it is to just keep up with the site. Thank you all for reading. To get a taste of the kind of absurdity I enjoy, check out the video below of the infamous Will Craig – Javier Baez rundown.