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The 7 Best MLB Moments from Tuesday

A home run swat-off, Billy Hamilton running fast and much much more.

Wynn McDonald
Best MLB Moments 6/2/2021

Another day, another delightful batch of moments from our favorite sport (hint: it’s not hockey. I mean, if hockey is your favorite sport, that’s okay. We like baseball, though. Actually, we love it — that’s the tagline under this article, which gets posted every day, if you pay attention to those things. If not, again, that’s cool. Thanks for reading!).

But, um, anyway, I’ve got some great stuff lined up for today. You should keep reading. But first, here’s an update on yesterday’s top headline: a touching memorial for Rob Refsnyder, who utterly wiped out on Monday after forgetting that there’s an outfield wall.

Special shoutout to this member of the Orioles’ grounds crew, who really went all out to poke a little fun at Refsnyder’s expense:

If this story sounds familiar, it’s probably because the Rangers did the exact same thing for Joey Gallo a few weeks ago:

Here’s hoping that crime scene investigations become a regular part of gameday hazing procedure going forward because I am absolutely on board. Meanwhile, here’s another BMLBM favorite, Alex Blandino, making his fourth appearance as a pitcher of the 2021 season:

Frankly, that says about all you need to know about how the Reds season is going — but hey, we’re here for it. Unfortunately, his sparkling career 0.00 ERA took a hit in this one with the Phillies’ seventh homer of the night, a grand slam by Matt Joyce.

And finally, one more shoutout to the Orioles, who lead MLB with an undefeated record in June. Did they lose the previous 12 games? Irrelevant, honestly. Whole new season, baby.

Turns out, all it took was putting tape on a wall. Who knew?

Now, on to the best of Tuesday…

The Vladdy & Ronnie Show

Who’s the Major League home run leader? Ask me again in 10 minutes, it might change. That’s because the current leaders, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., are in a dead heat at the top of a race full of awesomely worthy challengers. Here’s Vladdy, wowing the fans in Buffalo (for the first time in forever) with a mammoth third-inning bomb:

Guerrero went 4-4 on the night, raising his average to .337 and his MLB-leading OPS to 1.104. But not to be outdone, Acuña followed suit shortly afterwards with his 17th longball of the year, tying Vladdy for the lead once again:

The Bravos lost 11-6 to the Nats, but as is so often the case this year, it wasn’t for any lack of trying on Acuña’s part. He finished the evening 3-4 with a walk and scored four of his team’s six runs himself, vaulting him into first place on the N.L.’s runs leaderboard with 43, second overall behind Bo Bichette. Please, Lord, get this man some help (signed, a weary and beleaguered Braves fan).

As a side note, I’d like to thank Joe Maddon for giving Shohei Ohtani the day off, thus preventing him from inevitably hitting a home run to tie the lead, too (like he has basically every Tuesday this season), because frankly, I’m tired of writing about it. See ya next week, Sho.

Just Like Old Times

After being absent from the lineup in Monday’s series opener, Albert Pujols made a much-anticipated appearance at first against the Cardinals last night, his first start as a Dodger against his former team. Before the game, he took the opportunity to catch up with an old friend:

Pujols went 0-2 in the game itself with a seventh-inning walk, after which he was removed for a pinch-runner. But the day gave us this picture, and that’s enough for me.

It also gave us this picture, which is not Pujols-related, but it is Molina-related and just happens to be f***ing sick.

Predicting the Weathers

Everyone loves #PitchersWhoRake. But what about pitchers who rake moderately, with very little impact on the game, and only in one specific way? Leave that to Ryan Weathers, who hit two perfect mirror-image singles against the Cubs last night:

The oddity was spotted by our friends @CespedesBBQ, who put both hits together in a video for our depraved pleasure.

And just like that, singles are cool again. Thank you, Ryan.

Breaking Barriers

Tuesday was also an important day of firsts for some of baseball’s more under-represented fan groups. It started with the Giants, who announced their plan to celebrate Pride Month by becoming the first MLB team to incorporate pride colors onto their caps and uniforms for a game this Saturday:

It’s a neat gesture by a club that continues to lead by example after hiring Alyssa Nakken last year. As for the design… well, I’ve certainly seen worse.

Meanwhile, in Texas, a little more history was made as Jillian Geib became just the second woman to be the official scorer at an MLB game in modern history:

All I know is that Eliza Green Williams deserves her own Ken Burns documentary.

Putting On a Clin(t)ic

Where were you when you heard about the Clint Frazier Game? (Hopefully, wherever you are now reading this, otherwise, you’ve probably seen this already. But honestly, I appreciate the fact that you’ve made it this far). At any rate, Tuesday’s matchup with the first-place Rays was a huge one for the Yankees, and it might have gone very differently if not for one man. See for yourself:

Just as we were starting to process the absurdity of that catch — which robbed Joey Wendle of the potential game-winning RBI — he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 11th and did this:

Cap it off with a mobbing at home plate and have yourself a day Mr. Frazier. Single-handedly stealing the soul of a division rival in one night is not easy, and I’d say it’s worth celebrating.

Billy Four-Bags

With all due respect to Clint, the highlight of the night may have come before that game even started. Watch closely as Billy Hamilton does his thing, and that thing is run, run, run.

That wild hit and a 1-3 night raised Hamilton’s average on the season to .234, which would actually be his highest single-season rate since 2018. It’s not much, but you take what you can get from the game’s most electric baserunner. It also prompted this excellent Hamilton pun, so we’re grateful:

Flippin’ Out

If there’s one thing better than a home run bat flip, it might be a home run bat flip followed by a stare-down with your friend, the catcher, who had the audacity to call for a high fastball against you. That’s what Willson Contreras did on Tuesday, and it was spectacular.

With that, I’ll leave you to enjoy your Wednesday in peace. Happy hump day, everyone. Go baseball.

Wynn McDonald

Born a Kentuckian, much like Dan Uggla. Braves fan by choice, unlike Dan Uggla. I enjoy long walks on the Brandon Beachy. @twynstagram

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