Wednesday baseball! Guess what? We had another no-hitter! It’s the Year of the No-Hitter, apparently. Aside from that, we had a pretty great day of baseball. To be fair, every day with baseball is great. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Davey’s Tantrum
There are plenty of entertaining things that happen on a day-to-day basis on the field. A manager getting ejected is a fairly common one. But when a manager gets ejected and does some extra things, that’s when it gets great. And that’s what Nationals manager Davey Martinez did on Wednesday.
Martinez got tossed from Wednesday’s game after arguing a call that saw Trea Turner being called out because he was out of the basepath. This was his reaction:
Davey now tied with Harrison, Schwarber, & Soto for 4th on the team in stolen bases with 1pic.twitter.com/GE3aHvfGQq
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 20, 2021
I honestly can’t remember the last time we had a manager get this animated on an ejection. He went into a full sprint down the line! Pulling the base out of the ground is a move we haven’t seen in a while. And then to kick it? As entertaining as it was, I hope his foot is okay because those bases are not exactly light. As mad as he was, I like to think that he was also laughing at it after the game.
Acuña Jr. called game… literally
Yes, we love bat flips. Who doesn’t? But, for my money, the best part about celebrating a home run isn’t the bat flip. It’s the player’s reaction when he turns to his dugout and gets excited. Ronald Acuña Jr. had an amazing reaction after his walk-off home run on Wednesday:
WALK IT OFF, @ronaldacunajr24!#HazloGrande pic.twitter.com/2IYqbr5gMB
— MLB (@MLB) May 20, 2021
He stood and admired it, which was awesome. There’s no question about that. But what he does when he turns to the dugout? Even better. He slowed down, turned to his teammates, and said it’s over.
WALK OFF RONALD pic.twitter.com/mWiXZ7VAYC
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 20, 2021
He literally called the game. Not only did he send a ball into space, but he said it was over. Even for one of the most exciting players in the game, this was awesome.
Fernando Tatís Jr., Acrobat
From one of the most exciting players in the game to another. Wednesday was Tatís’ first day back since May 9 after going on the COVID IL. Naturally, he went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run, but that isn’t what we are going to talk about. Instead, we are going to talk about his amazing athleticism on the base paths. Let’s take a look:
Flexibility it key 🔑 @tatis_jr is SAFE!#HungryForMore l @Padres pic.twitter.com/zQh4wCvrUZ
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) May 19, 2021
I mean, what? First of all, let’s acknowledge the flexibility of someone who is 6’3″, 217 lbs. The fact that he can do the splits alone is incredible, but that’s just one part of it. The fact that he knew that he had to stay on the base and did the splits to make sure he kept his foot on the bag? I mean, that is just ridiculous. The awareness to know he has to keep his foot on the bag and then do the splits to do it?!
Baseball is better when he’s playing, and now that he’s back, we’re going to have a ton of fun.
The Klubot… Smiled?
I mentioned the no-hitter in the open. Wednesday’s no-hitter was thrown by Corey Kluber, who we all know and love as “The Klubot.” He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t yell, he doesn’t show emotion. He’s a robot, hence the nickname.
We know and love this about Kluber, but Wednesday was different. When you throw a no-hitter, how can you not show at least some emotion? And, guess what? He finally did!
Kluber & Higgy.
History. pic.twitter.com/MZXmFNvoPh
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 20, 2021
He… he smiled! Look at it and savor it, because we might not get it much anymore. But don’t you worry, we still got the vintage Klubot:
kluber showing a lot of emotion after throwing a no-hitter pic.twitter.com/nQUjLXehnq
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 20, 2021
Sure, we’ve gotten a lot of no-hitters already. But that doesn’t diminish how much we love to see the excitement and emotion from the pitcher and his teammates. It’s what makes baseball heartwarming. Congrats, Kluber.
We had a lot of fun stuff in baseball on Wednesday. Sure, the no-hitter was awesome, but we got one on Tuesday. Did we get a manager kicking a base on Tuesday? No, we didn’t. Have a great Thursday!