Baseball parks are wonderful places. They bring us great food, great memories, great entertainment, and greatly overpriced pints of Miller Lite. They’re also subject to the elements, and sometimes that means we have to wait a little longer while Mother Nature has her way.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun in the meantime.
Tuesday’s Best MLB Moments were fewer in number, but no less memorable. Let’s talk about ’em.
No Lights, No Problem
When the Oakland A’s got off to an 0-6 start to the 2021 season, some thought (rather dramatically) the lights might have gone out on their playoff hopes. Then they messed around and won 10 in a row, culminating with yesterday’s double-header sweep of the Twins. So it’s only fitting that that accomplishment—easily the longest such streak in baseball this season—was capped by the lights literally turning off in the middle of the second game.
A bank of lights have gone out causing a delay pic.twitter.com/hYUm9593S2
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) April 21, 2021
The delay lasted about 25 minutes, at which point some of the lights came back on, some didn’t, and they apparently decided that it didn’t really matter that much, so play resumed. During the break, the A’s stayed loose with what looks to be an intense multi-player thumb war:
Staying #LockedIn with some thumb game pic.twitter.com/JmShbHhVnU
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) April 21, 2021
According to America’s A’s correspondent Jessica Kleinschmidt, the Coliseum’s music crew took advantage of the opportunity by playing “Lights” by Journey. Among the many options they could’ve gone with along that theme, I would’ve liked to see Metallica, but this was a solid pick.
Cinci-Nasty Weather
When the players first took the field for pre-game warmups before Tuesday’s Reds-Diamondbacks tilt in Cincinnati, it was 67° out. By the eighth inning, it was 35° and still dropping. That’s how you end up in a situation like this:
https://twitter.com/Verly32/status/1384697181051838469?s=20
That sleet is no joke, and as weird as it is that it even got to this point, it was a potentially dangerous situation for everyone involved. Did that umpire have somewhere else to be?? Thankfully, the game was ultimately suspended and no one was hurt.
However, we did get a solid 20 minutes after the players left the field before the game was called where nobody knew what to do. And like in the A’s game, the stadium tunes operators absolutely capitalized.
#Reds scoreboard crew playing White Christmas — followed by Let It Snow pic.twitter.com/e9jTajgaU7
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 21, 2021
Next up “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” pic.twitter.com/mRm7FP83AK
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 21, 2021
Gotta love it. Plus, if nothing else, at least the night gave us this dope photo:
The Reds and D-backs have entered a weather delay of some sort. pic.twitter.com/jmlHj0iUmG
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 21, 2021
The Dark Knight Returns
How long has it been since Matt Harvey earned a win in a Major League game? That would be 648 days just one sleep, folks. After nearly two full years without a victory, the former Mets All-Star picked up his first one as an Oriole by throwing five innings of eight-hit, three-run ball against the Marlins.
After the game (a 7-5 Orioles win), he offered this tear-jerker of a quote:
https://twitter.com/JoeTrezz/status/1384694564439609346?s=20
Regardless of your opinion on Harvey, it was a cool thing to see. Especially since it came exactly eight years and one day after this hilarious moment at Citi Field, from the height of Harvey-mania:
4/19/2013 Matt Harvey outduels Stephen Strasburg by pitching seven innings and only allowing one run. The Citi Field crowd shows their support for Harvey by shouting “Harvey’s better.”@MattHarvey33 pic.twitter.com/CiUKAHu7ma
— This Day in Mets History (@NYMhistory) April 19, 2021
It was a nice thought. Never change, Mets fans.
Gallo Beats the Shift
If you had asked me at the beginning of the season which would happen first—a Joey Gallo RBI bunt, or Yermín Mercedes pitching—I probably would have answered the latter, even though I didn’t know who Yermín Mercedes was at that point. And technically, I would’ve been right, since that happened on Monday. But we need to take a moment to appreciate this beauty, too.
Joey lays one down. pic.twitter.com/MyL6I69AZB
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 21, 2021
Look, we all know bunting is stupid and it makes no sense in that situation, especially for a bonafide yoke-soaker like Gallo. But there’s something special about seeing someone beat a shift so effortlessly, spoiling a carefully-laid defensive scheme just like that. Sometimes you just gotta keep ’em humble, right?
One person who clearly didn’t see it that way was Angels pitcher Mike Mayer, who barked a few choice words in Gallo’s direction as he strolled off the mound.
Mike Mayer, not a fan of that Gallo bunt, lets him know and I love it pic.twitter.com/U2ZN8VGhLO
— Angels TopPlays (@PlaysAngels) April 21, 2021
Not entirely sure what he was hoping to accomplish there, but he did get the last laugh, as the Angels would win 6-2. One might argue that a home run instead of a bunt would’ve made things more interesting. But if you’re a Rangers fan, you gotta take what you can get at this point.