Well, you don’t see this happen every day.
Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper took batting practice on Monday at Busch Stadium in preparation for the team’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals when something unexpected occurred.
Harper, taking routine batting practice swings with Phillies third-base coach Dusty Wathan, somehow managed to hit a ball that collided with another ball in midair out in the outfield, knocking the ball the right fielder hit to the ground. Yes, it sounds like an impossible one-in-a-million chance but Harper actually managed this feat, and it was caught on video too!
Let’s examine the tape.
During BP, @bryceharper3 hit a ball that collided midair with another ball. 😱
What are the chances?!?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/MLvXMHlHsJ
— MLB (@MLB) April 27, 2021
It took a few watches to comprehend what was happening here, but I finally was able to understand the seemingly physics-bending moment. Thankfully, the Phillies broadcast slowed down the clip and circled where the balls hit, making it easy to see that Harper’s ball was deflected to the ground after being hit by a ball thrown out in the outfield.
At first glance though it’s easy to mistake it for the universe’s laws of physics just breaking as Harper’s ball seemingly falls to the ground.
Harper’s reaction, however, is one of pure mind-blown shock as he realized what occurred on what seemed to be a routine hit. We’ll likely never see anything like that ever again in baseball.
