Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
By the way to corroborate Harwell's statements regarding the long history of lamenting the lost art of the bunt, here's a table showing bunts as a percentage of plate appearances and the percent increase in the bunt percentage for every year since 1895, the first in which the bunts were recorded. Note the steep dropoff since 1908, the all-time bunting. high (3.70%). Also note the one-year surges in 1926 and 1939. What's up with that?:
| Year | SH/AB | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1895 | 1.59% | N/A |
| 1896 | 1.90% | 19.58% |
| 1897 | 1.82% | -4.31% |
| 1898 | 1.96% | 7.63% |
| 1899 | 1.92% | -1.91% |
| 1900 | 1.89% | -1.85% |
| 1901 | 2.00% | 6.16% |
| 1902 | 2.23% | 11.04% |
| 1903 | 2.48% | 11.24% |
| 1904 | 2.50% | 0.87% |
| 1905 | 2.82% | 12.84% |
| 1906 | 3.10% | 10.09% |
| 1907 | 2.95% | -4.80% |
| 1908 | 3.70% | 25.25% |
| 1909 | 3.55% | -4.16% |
| 1910 | 3.36% | -5.10% |
| 1911 | 3.17% | -5.75% |
| 1912 | 3.06% | -3.59% |
| 1913 | 2.85% | -6.81% |
| 1914 | 3.11% | 9.11% |
| 1915 | 3.32% | 6.74% |
| 1916 | 3.16% | -4.89% |
| 1917 | 3.44% | 8.95% |
| 1918 | 3.33% | -3.25% |
| 1919 | 3.35% | 0.64% |
| 1920 | 3.32% | -0.76% |
| 1921 | 3.23% | -2.91% |
| 1922 | 3.17% | -1.60% |
| 1923 | 2.93% | -7.81% |
| 1924 | 2.92% | -0.15% |
| 1925 | 2.73% | -6.64% |
| 1926 | 3.48% | 27.60% |
| 1927 | 3.45% | -1.01% |
| 1928 | 3.22% | -6.43% |
| 1929 | 2.90% | -10.09% |
| 1930 | 2.75% | -4.98% |
| 1931 | 1.52% | -44.89% |
| 1932 | 1.56% | 2.47% |
| 1933 | 1.83% | 17.50% |
| 1934 | 1.55% | -15.40% |
| 1935 | 1.64% | 5.85% |
| 1936 | 1.47% | -10.37% |
| 1937 | 1.50% | 2.20% |
| 1938 | 1.44% | -3.90% |
| 1939 | 2.34% | 62.38% |
| 1940 | 1.34% | -42.81% |
| 1941 | 1.51% | 12.61% |
| 1942 | 1.59% | 5.74% |
| 1943 | 1.80% | 13.12% |
| 1944 | 1.80% | 0.00% |
| 1945 | 1.81% | 0.18% |
| 1946 | 1.74% | -3.86% |
| 1947 | 1.50% | -13.80% |
| 1948 | 1.50% | 0.28% |
| 1949 | 1.49% | -0.99% |
| 1950 | 1.31% | -11.70% |
| 1951 | 1.31% | -0.24% |
| 1952 | 1.45% | 10.72% |
| 1953 | 1.32% | -8.75% |
| 1954 | 1.41% | 6.94% |
| 1955 | 1.26% | -10.54% |
| 1956 | 1.33% | 5.40% |
| 1957 | 1.18% | -11.29% |
| 1958 | 1.12% | -5.01% |
| 1959 | 1.20% | 7.18% |
| 1960 | 1.27% | 5.87% |
| 1961 | 1.21% | -5.45% |
| 1962 | 1.10% | -8.34% |
| 1963 | 1.20% | 8.41% |
| 1964 | 1.20% | 0.44% |
| 1965 | 1.23% | 1.99% |
| 1966 | 1.21% | -1.37% |
| 1967 | 1.23% | 1.60% |
| 1968 | 1.26% | 2.72% |
| 1969 | 1.14% | -9.81% |
| 1970 | 1.10% | -3.11% |
| 1971 | 1.24% | 12.68% |
| 1972 | 1.27% | 2.29% |
| 1973 | 1.05% | -17.24% |
| 1974 | 1.18% | 11.97% |
| 1975 | 1.28% | 8.29% |
| 1976 | 1.23% | -3.65% |
| 1977 | 1.10% | -10.22% |
| 1978 | 1.26% | 14.43% |
| 1979 | 1.20% | -5.30% |
| 1980 | 1.18% | -1.21% |
| 1981 | 1.20% | 1.23% |
| 1982 | 1.09% | -8.75% |
| 1983 | 0.98% | -10.11% |
| 1984 | 0.90% | -8.11% |
| 1985 | 0.98% | 8.18% |
| 1986 | 0.95% | -2.54% |
| 1987 | 0.91% | -4.63% |
| 1988 | 1.03% | 13.95% |
| 1989 | 1.03% | -0.66% |
| 1990 | 0.98% | -4.33% |
| 1991 | 1.02% | 3.93% |
| 1992 | 1.05% | 2.69% |
| 1993 | 1.05% | 0.03% |
| 1994 | 0.98% | -6.60% |
| 1995 | 0.96% | -2.09% |
| 1996 | 0.88% | -8.34% |
| 1997 | 0.91% | 3.60% |
| 1998 | 0.91% | 0.38% |
| 1999 | 0.85% | -6.62% |
| 2000 | 0.86% | 1.14% |
| 2001 | 0.87% | 0.45% |
| 2002 | 0.88% | 1.83% |
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