There’s so much to love about baseball.
[Places fedora upon head.]
It’s the thinking person’s game. Strategy is everything! But also skill! Nothing is harder than hitting a baseball, except perhaps throwing one in such a way that nobody can hit it.
Can’t you smell the fresh-cut grass? The Cracker Jacks? The sticky stale absurdly expensive beer that some guy spilled in the 3rd–
[Removes fedora quickly.]
Sorry about that. Wait, do they still make Cracker Jacks?
Anyway, baseball’s great. It’s just that, compared to the free-flowing sports, displays of dramatic, world-class athleticism are relatively scattered.
Which makes Rays rookie Randy Arozarena’s daring steal of home in an ALDS game against Boston all the more thrilling, especially from this angle:
AROZAMANIA pic.twitter.com/bh3C3Fwj1O
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2021
My favorite part of this video is that you can see the quarter-second of hesitation in Brandon Lowe when he thinks, “Wait, uhh, is Randy running at me? He is, right? Yes, yes, he’s trying to steal home, better step out.”
Honestly I just want to watch every angle of this, over and over.
Randy Arozarena is the first player to steal home in a #postseason game since 2016 😳 pic.twitter.com/a9Qvf8Bgfg
— MLB (@MLB) October 8, 2021
According to Rays manager Kevin Cash, Arozarena had been begging to steal home for a while now, pleading by saying, “Verde, verde, verde.” Basically: Green light?
Thankfully he got it, scoring the final run in a 5-0 Game 1 victory. Arozarena became the first player ever to steal home and homer in a playoff game.
