I am sure you have all seen some wacky/crazy/loony/dumb plays in baseball, but watch what happened today in the MLB game between the Pirates and the Cubs and judge where it ranks.
Top of the third, Chicago Cubs were up 1-0, two outs, runner (Cubs catcher Willson Contreras) on second, Cubs shortstop Javier Báez (nicknamed "El Mago" — the magician) ripped a liner down the third base line that Pirates third baseman Erik Gonzalez cleanly fielded and threw to first baseman Will Craig; all looked like a pretty routine play and an end to an ordinary inning. Watch the magic that happened next -
Longer video at YouTube with multiple camera angles -
After Báez trotted from first base to home plate, the runner scored, Báez raced back to first base and ended up on second base. Báez reached home plate on the next play to score another run for the Cubs. Cubs went on to beat the Pirates 5-3.
You can count the number of errors in that play while admiring the creativity and persistence of Báez and Contreras.
The official scoring goes down like this: "Javier Báez reached on fielder's choice, 3rd to 1st, Willson Contreras scored. Javier Báez to 2nd on Michael Perez's throwing error."
Shouldn’t the words “1B brainfart” appear in that sentence?
Also, can some baseball aficionado here explain to us what “fielder’s choice” means and which fielder made what choice, that he shouldn’t have?
What was first baseman Will Craig thinking? Was he mesmerized by Báez’s antics? His foot was not on the base when he caught the ball but all he had to do was step back and touch the first base bag. Or reach out and tag Báez. But he did neither. What were the Pirates coaches and teammates doing? Were they simply frozen watching the horror unfold in slow motion? Did everyone on the Pirate’s team develop amnesia about the number of outs?
Here is an amusing analysis by Michael Clair at MLB -
You've probably never seen a play like it. Wait, I take that back: You may have seen this play out on the tee-ball field when the first baseman is more interested in the dandelions in foul territory than fielding the ball.
But really, nothing at the Major League level quite measures up. Tommy John's three errors on one play? Routine. The 2012 Astros converging in a wood and choosing the path least traveled? Yeah, that's got nothing on this.
In the top of the third inning of Thursday's Cubs-Pirates game, Javier Báez came to the plate with two outs. Willson Contreras was on second base. And that's when the calamity of calamities broke out.
Some thoughts from Báez.
Báez had the audacity to call the runner safe before realizing that he still had to make it safely to first base for the run to count.
Pirates pitcher Tyler Anderson admitting that they all screwed up -
Commentary from the bewildered Pirates broadcast -
All in all, a play and a day to remember. And a lesson to draw — no matter how hopeless a situation might appear, never give up, keep persisting and good things will happen.
What other plays do you remember that match this one in creativity, in comedy and in error? How about tales of heroism when the chips are down?
P.S. I want to thank everyone who posted these excellent set of comments. Very informative postings, great analysis, wonderful historical parallels, and no pie fights, just some professional disagreements and healthy discussions.