Yesterday afternoon, under a glorious sunny sky, Katherine and I attended our eighth Texas Rangers game of the season. It was 90º Fahrenheit at the 2:05 start and may have increased a few degrees as the game wore on. The saving grace was a stiff southerly breeze.
The Rangers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, which made the 45,011 fans feel good. But then the Kansas City Royals struck for five runs in the fourth. The Rangers picked up a run in the fifth to make it 5-3. It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth, when Michael Young hit a line-drive two-run home run to the opposite field. The crowd went wild. Alas, the Royals scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth off our closer, the 2010 American League Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz. A deathly quiet filled the ballpark. Unless we could score a run in the ninth, we would lose the series.
Just when all seemed lost, Nelson Cruz tied the game with a home run that barely cleared the leftfield fence. Once again, the crowd was alive. And then the miraculous happened. With Mike Napoli on first base, Elvis Andrus hit a line drive into the rightfield corner. I figured it would get Napoli to third, where he could score on any kind of hit. Napoli motored into third and then, to my horror, headed for home. Oh, my god. He was a dead duck.
The Royals' catcher, Brayan Pena, caught the ball, took a quick step, and reached down to apply the tag. But Napoli slid under the tag! I saw the umpire's hands fly out, signifying safe, and screamed. Pena went ballistic. He threw the ball onto the plate, which caused it to bounce 10 feet high. He threw his glove down and began jumping up and down like an enraged monkey. Meanwhile, Napoli was celebrating the 7-6 come-from-behind victory with his teammates. Here is video of the play. If you click the image in this post, you'll see the aftermath of the Rangers' celebration at the plate.
What an amazing ending! The fans stood in disbelief, applauding and cheering. Nobody wanted to leave. I felt bad for Pena, but he has to know, if he watches the replay, that Napoli got in under his tag. As for why Pena missed him, I don't know. Maybe Pena thought his foot was blocking the plate and that Napoli would come in high, trying to bowl him over. When he turned with the ball, he saw Napoli sliding. He reached down to apply the tag, but didn't make it in time. What's your theory?
Katherine and I are 5-3 this year in games attended, with 12 games to go. That's a winning percentage of 62.5. The Rangers should pay us to go to the games.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 