Yesterday was July 31, which means the trade deadli — wait. We’re actually only a week into the season. Nevertheless, even if it wasn’t the trade deadline, there were still plenty of fun baseball things to come out of Thursday night’s action.
There were moments that made you laugh, moments that made you question what was happening, and more. Let’s get into it.
Jackie Bradley Jr. Gets Stuck
The Yankees and Red Sox faced off for the first time in the 2020 season on Thursday. While it wasn’t a great game, we did get a good chuckle out of a mishap in the third inning.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run off of Red Sox starter Ryan Weber. He took an inside pitch and hit it the other way. Jackie Bradley Jr. had different ideas, though. He thought the ball was close enough to the wall, so he jumped up and climbed the wall to reach Judge’s blast. It didn’t go as planned.
https://gfycat.com/bitterhiddenaltiplanochinchillamouse
His foot got stuck in the Pepsi sign! He stood there for a second, almost in disbelief as to how this could happen. Then, we got some more information, courtesy of The Athletic’s Yankees writer, Lindsey Adler.
https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1289351451756486657?s=20
So, Bradley’s foot gets stuck in a Pepsi sign. Aaron Judge has a Pepsi SPONSORSHIP? Coincidence? We may never know. Nevertheless, Bradley getting stuck in the fence was one of the highlights from the game.
Yaz Has Trouble With The Donut
Mike Yastrzemski is one of the hottest hitters in baseball to start the season. Going into Thursday’s action, he stood alone at the top of the Fangraphs’ WAR list, with 0.8. He hit a double in Thursday night’s game, keeping up that hot streak. Yet, his other highlight of the night wasn’t his skill at the plate. It was what he did in the on-deck circle in the bottom of the seventh.
https://gfycat.com/deadlyquaintamazondolphin
It took him a while to get the donut off of his bat. Normally, players get them off smoothly and it makes a distinct sound even on the TV broadcast.
For Yaz, however, it wasn’t so smooth. For a player who has been one of the best hitters in baseball so far, it was a funny sight to see and remember that he is actually human.
The Rays’ Extreme Shift
The shift has become commonplace in Major League Baseball over the past few years, We’ve seen some crazy ones, whether it’s the second baseman in right field, or the third baseman right over second base. Yesterday, though, the Rays got weird.
With a runner on third, Ji-Man Choi was playing about halfway in between first and second and the rest of the infielders were playing in between second and third. Instead of bringing in the corners with a runner on third, they opted to shift on a right-handed batter.
This is a crazy shift I've never seen before.
Rays essentially ignoring any potential out at first base. Going all in on getting the runner at home.
Look how far Choi is from 1st, any grounder that's a play to first for some reason would be one of the weirdest bang bangs ever. pic.twitter.com/26BqGaFlpd
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) August 1, 2020
Cespedes Family BBQ points out that they are completely passing on any chance of getting an out at first. It’s all or nothing with the runner on third.
Orioles Have Fun With Scoreboard Announcement
With no fans in the stadiums, the experience even on the TV is different. The pumped in crowd noise, the cutouts, and even the virtual fans are new to all of us. However, stadiums are still doing some normal things. They are still announcing the hitters, doing the organ, and putting things on the scoreboard.
So far, the best thing that we’ve seen from the stadium scoreboards came courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles. When the Orioles and Rays went to a rain delay, the Orioles had a special announcement for the fans.
https://twitter.com/rwags614/status/1289346720724221952?s=20
The Orioles came out with a win, but this might be the best thing that they did on Thursday.
Chris Martin Forgets The Inning
The Braves had an unbelievable comeback win on Thursday. They trailed 8-2 in the fifth inning and ended up winning the game, 11-10. It was the first big LOLMets moment of the season and a huge win for the Braves. When they finished the comeback win at the end of the game, there might have been someone who thought the game wasn’t over just yet.
W.#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/QzBGKGkIzf
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) August 1, 2020
Chris Martin walks towards the dugout as if he thinks the game is still going. The Braves were down big and had to score a lot quickly, so who knows, maybe he thought the game was tied and they still had work to do. This isn’t something that is uncommon, a lot of pitchers walk off before there’s even three outs recorded. But in such a huge comeback win, you would think that Martin would be celebrating, not getting ready to go back for another inning.