Tag: Little League Home Run

Joc Pederson’s grounder down the line hilariously turned into a wild Little League home run

The Rockies are down BAD.

The Diamondbacks have been among baseball’s hottest teams since the All-Star break, surging from out of a playoff position to a four-game cushion atop the NL wild card standings. The Colorado Rockies, on the other hand, have remained awful.

That stark contrast was on display early on in the D-backs’ matchup with Colorado at Chase Field on Wednesday.

The Rockies couldn’t even make it out of the first inning without embarrassing themselves in a huge way.

With Joc Pederson at the plate for Arizona, he turned on Tanner Gordon’s changeup for a hard grounder fair down the first-base line. It should have been a two-RBI double for Pederson and ended with that. But Michael Toglia tried to catch Pederson napping at second base, and, uh, some throws should not be made.

Toglia’s throw was extremely off the mark and went all the way to the left-field wall. Pederson got to his feet and scored easily for the Little League home run.

Officially, that went down as a double for Pederson and an error. The D-backs scored four runs in that first inning.

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The Reds’ Spencer Steer hit a Little League home run after the Braves laughably botched a relay throw

Perhaps the worst relay throw ever.

Injuries are part of sports. Over the course of a 162-game series, every team is going to deal with injuries. But the Atlanta Braves are truly having a nightmarish injury situation this season, and we saw just how it can impact a team defensively on Wednesday.

During the opening game of the Braves’ doubleheader against the Reds, Spencer Steer hit an opposite-field fly ball to right that was out of a diving Adam Duvall’s range. Steer — who runs well — was likely going to have an easy triple, but Braves backup infielder Zack Short made the situation worse by *attempting* a relay throw to third.

And when I say “attempting,” I’m putting it kindly. His throw looked like this:

I’m not sure what exactly happened on that throw, but the ball slipped out of Short’s hand and went sideways towards shallow center field. Mind you, Short was playing second this game because both Ozzie Albies and newly signed Whit Merrifield are hurt.

After that botched relay, Steer got up and continued to home for a Little League home run (scored a triple and an error).

Fans certainly had plenty of thoughts on that relay.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

https://twitter.com/og_yungdilly/status/1816156425086816353

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The Braves’ Austin Riley hit a Little League home run thanks to some incredible hustle around the bases

Now, THAT is why you run out of the box.

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley missed a couple games over the weekend with a stomach bug, but it’s safe to say that he’s thrilled to be back in the lineup.

He proved it with his effort on Monday.

Batting in the first inning of the Braves’ game 1 doubleheader against the Phillies, Riley drove a line drive to the left-center wall at Citizens Bank Park. It was the kind of contact that would have many players assuming it was a home run and leaving the batter’s box and half speed. Riley, though, took a different approach. He was sprinting the entire way.

Riley got an incredible jump out of the box and looked to be cruising in for a triple when left fielder Jake Cave bobbled the ball as he attempted to pick it up. That was all third base coach Ron Washington needed to see to give Riley the green light.

Now, Riley isn’t known for his speed. He’s a big dude and ranked in the 68th percentile in sprint speed, according to Statcast. But on that play he showed why it’s important to run out of the box. It was the difference between a stand-up double and a Little League home run (play was officially scored a triple and E7).

Fans also appreciated the hustle from Riley. That type of effort wins games.

MLB fans had so many jokes after the Red Sox allowed a Little League home run on a grounder

It kept getting worse and worse.

There probably isn’t a play that can humble Major League teams more than a Little League home run. You have nine of the best baseball players in the world out in the field, and they manage to turn a simple play into a demoralizing embarrassment.

That’s never not funny.

Just a week after we saw the New York Yankees hand the Padres two runs on a series of defensive blunders, their AL East rival Boston Red Sox gave it a try on Sunday.

With the Red Sox already down two runs in the sixth inning, Yandy Diaz took advantage of the hit-and-run call and singled on a grounder through the gap on the right side of the infield. The Rays then saw that the Red Sox were slow to get the ball back into the infield, so they sent Manuel Margot who scored before a wide throw home.

Catcher Connor Wong, though, should’ve had Diaz out at second as Diaz slowed down to basically concede the out. But Wong’s throw was a disaster. The Red Sox catcher threw the ball straight into center field. Enrique Hernandez and Enmanuel Valdez could only watch as the ball rolled beyond all the outfielders — such a helpless feeling.

After all that, Diaz jogged into home easily with the Little League homer. Officially, it was scored a single, RBI and a *huge* error on Wong.

Fans also had jokes about the mess of a defensive display.

MLB fans roasted the Yankees after they allowed an embarrassing Little League home run

Defense doesn’t get much worse than THIS.

It’s difficult to describe just how good Major League Baseball players are at baseball. They can throw pitches that seemingly defy physics, and other players can hit those pitches 450-plus feet. It’s nothing short of incredible.

Baseball is also a game that can make those same players look like 8-year-olds playing for the first time.

On Sunday, that happened to the New York Yankees and it was a sight to behold.

In the second inning of the Yankees’ game against the San Diego Padres, Jose Azocar singled on a line drive to center field. Harrison Bader fielded the ball and came up firing to home in an attempt to throw out Ha-Seong Kim at home. But Bader airmailed his throw to the backstop, and Azocar kept running the entire way. You might want to see catcher Kyle Higashioka hold the ball and limit the damage (or for Gerrit Cole to back up the play).

But no, he did this instead …

Higashioka threw the ball all the way into left field, allowing Azocar to score on a Little League home run (officially a single and two errors). Anytime you’re frustrated at your job, just remember that the New York Yankees can look like that.

The Yankees would shake off that defensive embarrassment and score seven runs in the third inning, but that didn’t stop MLB fans from roasting the play.

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The Rays’ blunder in the outfield handed Cristian Pache the easiest Little League home run

lol good effort.

The absolute worst feeling for an outfielder has to be when the ball gets by you and continues to roll to the wall. Everyone in the stadium knows you messed up — you can hear it! — and turning around to chase after the ball has to be so embarrassing.

It gets even worse when the person who hit the ball is one of the fastest players in the game.

Rays outfielders Randy Arozarena and Kevin Kiermaier got to experience that worst-case scenario on Thursday against the A’s.

With speedy A’s outfielder Cristian Pache at the plate, a ground ball up the middle had Arozarena sliding on a do-or-die effort to cut off the ball. He was unaware that Kiermaier was right there in solid position to field the ball, which was unfortunate for the Rays because that sliding attempt had the ball deflecting all the way to the wall.