Monday was a fairly quiet day around baseball, as it’s traditionally a travel day for many teams. However, it wasn’t lacking for weird moments, and the best ones are packaged here below for you to enjoy. Let’s get you up to speed with the fun things you may have missed from yesterday’s slate of games.
Kole Calhoun Takes a Header
The Diamondbacks’ Kole Calhoun found himself in a pickle Monday night, when he almost got doubled off of first base on a routine Ketel Marte flyout in the bottom of the fifth inning. The throw got past Daniel Murphy at first however, and Calhoun attempted to reverse his direction and took off for second. When he turned around to take a peek at where the ball was, however, he saw it was on a collision course with his head and lowered his helmet to deflect it away.
There … there is a lot to unpack here. pic.twitter.com/PwfK50QQUK
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) August 25, 2020
Now that’s a heads-up play. Despite his heroic sacrifice to keep the play alive, Calhoun was called out for interference, completing one of the weirder double plays we have seen this season. Torey Lovullo, the D-Backs manager, was subsequently tossed from the game for arguing the interference call. Upon further review however, it looks like the umpires actually made the right decision. Here’s a better angle:
Kole Calhoun with the header off the corner kick.#GGGGOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLLL@FIFAWorldCup | @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/rPPwAs7PHm
— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) August 25, 2020
That’s pretty cut and dry interference, and credit goes to the umpires for getting this one right. And while the double play was obviously not the ideal outcome for Arizona, Reggie Jackson would be proud, and that’s really all that matters.
Wow, true. pic.twitter.com/3D1WAJlqXX
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 25, 2020
The Miami Marlins‘ graphics team continued its run of dominance last night with this hilarious graphic detailing Matt Joyce’s superiority over some of MLB’s greatest superstars. While the context behind the graphic is unclear, the Marlins pulled no punches in asserting that Joyce was an all-around better player than Mike Trout, which is about as close as you can get to actual heresy in the baseball world. To his credit, however, Joyce has been quite productive for the Miami squad, slashing a crisp .306/.404/.408 in 57 trips to the plate, good for a team-leading 132 wRC+. He had another good game Monday and went 3-for-6 and knocked in a pair of runs to help lift the Marlins over the Nationals in an 11-8 slugfest.
It’s okay Mr. Trout, there’s always meteorology if this baseball thing doesn’t work out.
More Weird Graphics
Monday was a weird day for graphics teams all around. This piece of art came courtesy of the Cleveland broadcast, which dug up this legendary story about Ray Caldwell, a pitcher from their 1920 championship run.
One of the most ridiculous graphics ever made pic.twitter.com/IwMvvAJomH
— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) August 25, 2020
Not only was Caldwell STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, but he even finished the game after regaining consciousness! I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that mound visit. If that weren’t enough, Caldwell took the mound again 17 days later and held the Yankees hitless. Wow. That’s a story that truly could have only ever taken place in the early “Wild West” days of baseball, and proof that sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction.