Sometimes, fans probably don’t realize just how hard Major League Baseball players can hit a baseball. The view from the broadcast doesn’t do it justice.
Andrew Vaughn’s glove can attest to that.
During Wednesday’s game between the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox, Joc Pederson smoked a line drive against Dylan Cease with an exit velocity of 109.1 mph. The ball was hit right at Vaughn who made a perfect reaction to give himself a chance at retiring Pederson. The problem: Vaughn’s glove couldn’t handle a baseball at that speed.
When trying to figure out what happened, the White Sox broadcast was in disbelief to see that the baseball went right through the webbing of Vaughn’s glove. A 109.1 mph liner will do that.
Joc Pederson tore through Andrew Vaughn's glove 😳 pic.twitter.com/SivLorU2tr
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) April 5, 2023
It honestly doesn’t get much unluckier than that for an infielder. He did everything right to make a play, but the equipment just couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain. Thankfully for Vaughn, he didn’t get penalized for the play as it was ruled a single.
MLB fans were also stunned by that play. Pederson crushed that baseball.
This was how Twitter reacted
this was so bizarre https://t.co/KHQKoryGLh
— the ghost of wade boggs (@stopthistrain28) April 5, 2023
Sox need a glove inspector, lol. https://t.co/tUNFUQOzY2
— Bill Benda (@BendaBill) April 5, 2023
https://t.co/N0szYQFteI pic.twitter.com/QISEQfeEtc
— Gustavo 😷 (@gusgusortiz_01) April 5, 2023
Hey @scorebook_bob – any type of special scorebook notation for a ball going THRU a glove??? 🤔 https://t.co/1P8GbJK6kH
— Ladies Who Like Baseball (@LONTDC1) April 5, 2023
https://t.co/3e1KHkr40W pic.twitter.com/oaQgfDYTHS
— Green Bay Southwest Baseball (@gbsw_baseball) April 5, 2023
— Playing MLB The Show 23⚾️ (@TheSloth2196) April 5, 2023
One of the rare times you’re allowed to blame the equipment.
