WASHINGTON — Hello, sports fan. Perhaps you’ve been guilty of ignoring — or paying only slight attention to — baseball so far this season. The Wizards and Caps each made the second round of the playoffs; we aren’t yet through Wimbledon. These things happen.
But now, it’s mid-July and soon, baseball will dominate the calendar. So, it’s high time to realize that the Brewers, Diamondbacks and Rockies are all currently holding down playoff spots and that you’ve missed a lot of great baseball.
Not to worry — here’s a list of some of the best plays from the season’s first half to get you caught up.
17. Schebler scales the wall, robs Vogt of home run
If you don’t know Reds outfielder Scott Schebler, you could do worse than this introduction, as he scales the wall to make an over-the-shoulder robbery of Stephen Vogt.
16. Jon Gray hits longest homer at Coors Field this year
At first blush, this home run by Jon Gray is impressive, but seems rather routine. It’s maybe 12 rows deep to straightaway center at a hitter’s park.
Then, you discover it was the longest hit at Coors Field this year (at the time), at 467 feet.
Then, you remember that Jon Gray is a pitcher and you realize this is the first home run of his career.
15. Gamel loses his hat, hangs on to the ball
Ben Gamel’s hat didn’t stick around to see the end of this play, as he crashed into the wall in the left field corner but held on to make the highlight grab.
14. Trea Turner hits for the cycle, drives in 7
Trea Turner has had a number of defensive gems that could have made this list, but his most impressive feat to date this season was his 5-for-5 performance in Colorado, which included the first Nationals’ cycle since Cristian Guzman in 2008. He completed the feat in style, clearing the bases with a triple into the right-field corner.
13. Bradley Jr. robs Healy of a walk-off home run
Bradley Jr. gets extra points for saving not just a home run, but the game with this catch. Although it only bought the Red Sox one more batter, as Mark Canha lifted off as the first batter of the bottom of the 10th.
12. Machado throws a 150-foot strike
It’s a little more than 127 feet straight across the diamond from third to first base. Here is Manny Machado, a good 20-25 feet wide of the bag, falling the wrong way, throwing against his body, on the run, off the wrong foot, right into the mitt of a waiting Eric Mancini, two steps ahead of Jedd Gyorko.
Don’t be fooled by how easy he makes this look — it’s incredible.
11. Judge mashes 495-foot home run
When people talk about mammoth home runs, they love to say 500-footers. It seems so much grander than any number starting with four. But Aaron Judge’s 495-foot blast was a titanic one, the longest in baseball this year. For reference, it traveled 45 feet further than Bryce Harper’s longest blast this year.
10. Ramirez ranges up the middle, cuts down Cabrera
Second basemen don’t get as much love as their left-side-of-the-infield counterparts when it comes to defensive highlights. But the degree of difficulty on this chopper up the middle couple with Ramirez’s perfect spin throw to beat the runner makes it stand out.
9. Schwarber goes head first into stands for foul ball
Kyle Schwarber will never be known for his defense. But he put his body on the line in the 12th inning of a 4-4 game against the Yankees, going head-over-heels over the concrete and brick wall, into the first row at Wrigley Field to snag this foul ball from Chase Headley.
8. Coghlan leaps over Molina to score
When you’re barreling full tilt toward home plate, there’s not much room for ingenuity on the fly. But Chris Coghlan managed this brilliant stroke of genius, leaping headlong over a waiting Yadier Molina to go head first into home plate for the score.
7. Edinson Volquez no-hits Dbacks on just 98 pitches
Managers often encounter the dilemma as a pitcher twirling a no-hitter works deeper and deeper into a game, pitch count rising, of whether it’s worth risking injury for history. Edinson Volquez put no such pressure on Don Mattingly. Despite 10 strikeouts, he needed fewer than 100 pitches to put the finishing touches on his no-hitter over the Diamondbacks.
6. Buxton slams into the wall, holds on for the catch
Few outfielders play with as much reckless abandon as Byron Buxton. But of any of the times he’s given up his body for the cause this year, this catch in Cleveland stands above the rest. Going full tilt, into the wall, he connects with so much force his sunglasses and hat come flying off, but he holds on to make the catch.
5. Arenado makes incredible play from flat on his belly
You really have to watch this play a few times to appreciate the levels of brilliance on display. When the ball skips away from Arenado, he’s flat on his belly, fully extended, with seemingly no play on the runner. And yet, somehow, he makes the play.
4. Kevin Pillar becomes Superman to rob Jose Ramirez
Kevin Pillar has made a name for himself north of the border for inspiring, jaw-dropping defensive plays. This is the most inspirational, jaw-dropping-est catch he’s made yet, leaping on a full sprint away from home plate to make a sensational, over-the-shoulder grab.
3. Pedroia backs up play, cuts down winning run
Some of the best defensive plays come when players find themselves way out of their natural positions. In this play, Pedroia comes flying in behind the play, catching the runner completely off-guard, and manages to make a flip back to first all in one motion as he’s going to the ground, erasing the potential winning run.
2. Arenado hits walk-off home run to complete cycle
Cycles are cool. But they are almost always a personal accomplishment, the final leg rarely directly impacting the final result. Needless to say, that wasn’t the case when Nolan Arenado stepped to the plate, his team down one, with runners at the corners and one out in the bottom of the ninth, a home run shy of the feat.
1. Scooter Gennett homers four times in same game
Lou Gehrig. Willie Mays. Mike Schmidt. Scooter Gennett?
Yep. The Reds second baseman turned in a feat rarer than a perfect game, becoming just the 17th player in MLB history to homer four times in the same game on June 6 against the Cardinals. Gennett, who had only three home runs all season coming into the game, hit the four off three different pitchers and drove in 10 runs, for good measure.
