1 weird highlight for each new 2023 HOF candidate
There are 14 new names on the 2023 Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame poll. We will discover out on Jan. 24 if anybody from this group or the 14 returning names will be part of Fred McGriff in Cooperstown this summer time.
If you need to know extra about every first-timer’s case for enshrinement, right here is an effective begin. If you need to see those self same All-Stars and World Series champions in odd or humorous conditions on the diamond, you’ve come to the correct place.
These new candidates tasted loads of glory throughout their decade-plus within the Majors. But as a result of baseball can be tremendous bizarre, they’ve seen their fair proportion of unusual moments, too. In this alphabetical listing, we’ll highlight one such second for every participant.
Bronson Arroyo
Arroyo spent June 12, 2000, getting ready to make his Major League debut. The right-hander had simply been referred to as up from the Minors and was scheduled to begin the subsequent day’s sport for the Pirates in opposition to the defending National League champions, the Atlanta Braves. A 3rd-round Draft decide by Pittsburgh in 1995, Arroyo probably envisioned himself on the Three Rivers Stadium mound over and over. Now that was lower than 24 hours away from changing into a actuality.
Then within the backside of the sixth inning – most likely whereas Arroyo sat deep in thought on the bench about his large second to return – somebody informed him to seize a bat. He was going to make his debut now.
Why did supervisor Gene Lamont select a pitcher with no MLB expertise to hit together with his crew main 8-6 within the sixth? Feel free to make your individual guesses. In any case, Arroyo put up a heck of a struggle in opposition to Bruce Chen.
Arroyo was so unprepared for the at-bat, he was carrying tennis footwear as a substitute of cleats. But as he defined after the sport, not less than he may see.
The subsequent day, Arroyo would make the primary of his 383 regular-season begins. He gave up 5 runs over 5 innings in a no-decision because the Pirates received, 7-6.
Carlos Beltrán
Beltrán was a premier defensive participant early in his profession. A 3-time Gold Glove Award winner, he registered not less than 10 Defensive Runs Saved per season whereas manning middle discipline for the Mets from 2006-08.
But the impacts of getting older ultimately take their toll on everybody, and as Beltrán reached his age-40 season in 2017 with the Astros, he had mainly turn into a DH-only contributor. Between May 16 and July 19 of that 12 months, Beltrán appeared in 43 video games for Houston and by no means as soon as took the sector on protection.
And thus, sadly, Beltrán’s once-trusted glove handed away as a result of neglect.
On July 17, the Astros gave the leather-based a correct funeral in middle discipline at Minute Maid Park, with Brian McCann apparently serving because the celebrant.
Matt Cain
A 3-time All-Star, Cain wouldn’t be described as a great hitting pitcher with a profession OPS of .331 throughout 611 at-bats. However, he did hit seven residence runs throughout his 13-year profession with the Giants, and we’re going to concentrate on his first dinger, which was overshadowed just a bit bit by one in all his teammates.
No. 1 for Cain got here within the backside of the fifth inning in opposition to the Nationals’ Tim Redding on Aug. 8, 2007. He lined an offspeed pitch over the left-field wall in San Francisco – and virtually missed stepping on first base.
It was a momentous event in Cain’s younger profession, however you’ll forgive the followers in attendance if Cain’s homer doesn’t stick out as their most vivid reminiscence from this sport. That’s as a result of a couple of innings earlier, Barry Bonds clubbed No. 757 into McCovey Cove.
As such, Bonds and Cain share a little bit of obscure, barely convoluted residence run historical past that may most likely by no means be topped: That is the biggest profession residence run differential between two gamers who went deep in the identical sport wherein a type of gamers hit their first homer.
R.A. Dickey
Hey, do you wanna see a 102 mph knuckleball? Of course you do!
Really, that ought to simply be the headline of this text. It could be phenomenal clickbait.
Well, with none additional ado, right here you go …
Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner, did throw a fairly exhausting knuckleball in his heyday, typically breaking 80 mph with it. But 102? That’s the work of a defective radar gun.
Either that or the knuckleball was really clocked at about 64 mph after which transformed to kilometers per hour for the Toronto pitcher. That really makes extra sense.
Andre Ethier
Nationals Park was the venue for the beginning of a marquee sequence on Sept. 15, 2017. The Dodgers had been on the town for a three-game set between the 2 finest groups within the National League. Ethier, who made his season debut simply a few weeks earlier after coping with a again harm, helped break the sport open with a run-scoring ground-rule double that hopped over the tall wall in proper.
What’s so bizarre about that? Just watch Jayson Werth.
Well, it appears like a line drive within the field rating. The play included the penultimate extra-base hit and RBI of Ethier’s regular-season profession. He retired following the season with 499 and 687, respectively.
In celebration of Ellsbury’s place in baseball lore, let’s look again to July 28, 2015, when he reached base through catcher’s interference in opposition to the Rangers – twice.
That was the sixth event in AL/NL historical past wherein a participant reached base through catcher’s interference greater than as soon as in a single sport. It was the primary time in a sport that a number of catchers on the identical crew obtained referred to as for interference.
With runners on first and second, Hardy drifted again into shallow left discipline at Fenway Park to catch a Jackie Bradley Jr. popup.
The play initially appeared disastrous because the ball fell to the grass, however two issues had been within the Orioles’ favor as Hardy, a three-time Gold Glove winner, rapidly gathered the ball.
1. No umpire signaled for an infield fly, which saved the drive performs intact at first and second base.
2. Bradley by no means bothered to succeed in first base and was thrown out, 6-4-3.
Here is that this masterpiece in all its glory.
John Lackey
By the beginning of 2017, Lackey sported a formidable listing of Major League accomplishments. He was a member of three World Series-winning groups. He received an ERA title and made the AL All-Star squad in 2007. He had pitched greater than 2,600 innings by a 14-season profession.
But he hadn’t but tried a stolen base. So, on Aug. 16, 2017, Lackey singled versus the Reds’ Homer Bailey after which figured he would possibly as properly attempt his luck. As the 38-year-old stated after the sport, “It looked like it was pretty easy.”
Lackey took off whereas Bailey appeared in for the 0-1 pitch and clearly caught everybody off guard. Bailey was too late to acknowledge Lackey rumbling into second as his throw to the bag was late. The triumphant pitcher gave a cheeky shrug towards his dugout as he stood atop the bottom.
But life comes at you quick on the basepaths, and Lackey’s blissful ft obtained him in hassle just some pitches later. On a 3-2 providing to Ben Zobrist, Lackey obtained caught between second and third and was finally picked off on what was ball 4.
But consistent with this text’s creating theme of “Players doing things they aren’t known for doing,” let’s check out Napoli legging out a triple.
On May 24, 2016, every part was dandy for the Cleveland first baseman as he slugged a ball to left-center, driving in two runs. As the White Sox dropped the cutoff throw from the outfield, there was no play to be made on the hustling Napoli at third, however the large man determined to dive in head-first anyway.
One drawback: Napoli ended up sliding proper onto his face.
Jhonny Peralta
In final 12 months’s version of this text, we included an inside-the-park residence run from Jimmy Rollins as his enjoyable spotlight. That’s a feat you would possibly anticipate from a speedy participant who stole 470 bases within the Majors.
You wouldn’t anticipate it from somebody comparable to Peralta, who stole all of 17 bases by 15 years within the bigs. But he made the 360-foot sprint on July 18, 2010, in opposition to the Tigers after driving a ball to straightaway middle discipline.
It most likely helped {that a} leaping Ryan Raburn crashed by an outfield gate and practically ended up in Cleveland’s bullpen. Regardless, right here is the primary and solely inside-the-park homer of Peralta’s profession.
Peralta, who was signed by Cleveland on the age of 16 in 1999, would spend simply 10 extra days with the franchise following that thrilling roundtripper. On July 28, he was traded to Detroit.
Francisco Rodríguez
Everyone can relate to how the person often called “K-Rod” was feeling on Aug. 11, 2005, in Oakland. We’ve all skilled occasions when one thing will get below our pores and skin, causes us to lose focus and finally ruins our day. But in contrast to the remainder of us, Rodríguez had such a second in full public view.
The Angels’ nearer entered within the backside of the ninth inning, trying to push a 4-4 sport into further innings. With runners on second and third and two outs, all he wanted to do was retire Eric Chavez.
The at-bat didn’t begin properly for Rodríguez, who was not happy that his first providing was referred to as a ball. Everything spiraled from there.
As Rodríguez glared towards the home-plate umpire, he made a nonchalant stab on the throw from the catcher. The ball proceeded to bounce off the highest of the mound and roll perilously towards second.
Jason Kendall took benefit of the lapse, bolted for residence and slid in safely forward of the pitcher’s determined throw. The A’s celebrated whereas Rodríguez sat with a shocked expression behind the mound.
Of course, Rodríguez would rebound and finally retire as one in all six Major League relievers with not less than 400 saves. But this clip lives on in infamy.
Huston Street
We’re going to cheat just a little bit with Street’s spotlight. We couldn’t discover something that occurred to him on the sector that was worthy of this listing. But the 13-year Major League reliever is aware of easy methods to have some enjoyable, and he did so on the streets of New York City with the MLB Fan Cave crew early within the 2011 season.
The premise was easy: What occurs when Huston Street walks round Midtown Manhattan and asks individuals, “Where is Houston Street?”
Jered Weaver
We’ve seen what occurs when residing issues have the misfortune of being within the path of an oncoming baseball. But if Randy Johnson nailing a hen with a blazing fastball is the game’s equal of dying metallic, this Weaver pitch is one thing nearer to Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood.”
There is a poetry to this 76 mph changeup from Weaver to Joey Wendle in 2016. It’s not evident at first, however the slow-motion replay exhibits the ball and a wayward dragonfly fluttering by the body.
Weaver, a three-time All-Star, was by no means often called one in all baseball’s hardest throwers. Perhaps the ball would have solely knocked the insect barely off target if it had made contact.
Jayson Werth
We will shut with one other second involving Werth, however this one is much less embarrassing for him (most likely) than dropping Ethier’s fly ball within the sky.
In a battle between two first-place golf equipment, the Nationals had simply defeated the Cubs, 5-4, due to Werth’s walk-off single within the twelfth inning. It was his second game-winning hit of the week in June 2016. And the hirsute outfielder was completely amped for the postgame interview. Fortunately, somebody within the manufacturing truck knew when to make use of the “bleep” button.
