Kobe Bryant And Chris Childs Fight (4/2/2000)
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For any of you believing young Kobe Bryant did all his sparring with Shaquille O'Neal...you are mistaken. Toward the end of their first championship regular season, the Lakers hosted the reigning Eastern Conference Champion Knicks.
According to Chris Childs himself, Kobe got a bit too carefree with the elbows during the evening, and despite Childs' warning, it didn't stop...at least not until Childs started swinging.
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Notes: On the floor for the Knicks along with Childs were Allan Houston, Marcus Camby and Patrick Ewing. O'Neal later wrote in his first book badly wanting to drop Ewing in retaliation for a past slight, but ultimately holding back.
The Lakers won going away, 106-82. Childs and Bryant were suspended for two and one games, respectively.
Wade Boggs Pitches (8/19/1997)
Wade Boggs wasn't always a happy camper with the 1996-97 Yankees—most Hall-of-Famers-in-waiting wouldn't be thrilled about having to share their position (in this case, with veteran Charlie Hayes) after over a decade of playing every day.
Regular or not, Boggs still had value to the Yankees. And on one particular August 1997 night, he didn't need his bat or mitt to help the club.
Facing the powerful Angels in Anaheim, David Wells—for one of the rare times that year—was beat up (11 runs in three innings.) After Yankee RP Graeme Lloyd threw four innings, manager Joe Torre, wanting to spare his bullpen at the beginning of a long road trip, asked Boggs to chew up the 8th inning. New York trailed 12-4 by then.
The knuckleballing Boggs delivered. In his MLB pitching debut, he walked Luis Alicea leading off, but then sat down Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson via groundout followed by a K of Todd Greene!
Notes: Angels SP Chuck Finley was handed a 7-0 lead in the 1st, but he also struggled and ultimately was pulled ahead of Wells having allowed three walks and four runs! 12-4 was the final score, with rookie Angel Jason Dickson going the final 6.1 IP for the win.
Two of the three batters Boggs retired homered off Wells earlier. Boggs made one more pitching appearance in his career; as a Devil Ray in 1999, he mopped up an eventual 17-1 Orioles drubbing.
Maikel Franco Gives Away A Fair Ball (7/14/2018)
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Larry Walker had a near Hall-of-Fame-caliber career and yet, he never lived down giving a live ball to a fan in 1994—the clip is in every baseball blooper package produced since that day and will continue to be until the end of time.
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A similar mistake was made in 2018 by Phillies 3B Maikel Franco as he pursued what really looked like a foul ground ball. (Even the batter thought the ball was foul.) Franco's attempt to be generous to a young boy may have earned him a permanent spot next to Walker in the blooper reels.
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Notes: The batter was Miami's Starlin Castro; the Phillies pitcher was Aaron Nola. Castro—who probably earns an infield hit had he run out of the box—was stranded on that 6th-inning play, but his RBI grounder in the first inning helped Miami to the eventual 2-0 victory behind Trevor Richards. Franco finished 0-for-3 with a BB.
Evan Gattis's Mental Blunder (4/19/2018)
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Evan Gattis, an unsigned free agent as I write this in June 2019, will play professional baseball again for somebody. What I don't expect he'll ever do: live this play down.
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One might expect the lowly Astros of the decade's first half to screw up in such a way, but not the defending World Champions. But Gattis, mountainous as he may appear, is human, and capable of making a mental error.
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Notes: Gattis finished 1-for-4 with a walk on the day; Houston scored nine times in the final five innings to beat Seattle 9-2. Marco Gonzalez is the Mariners pitcher, while Dan Vogelbach is the Mariners 1B who tags Gattis out.
Deandre Ayton's Ankles Broken (11/27/2018)
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We're in an NBA era where it is common, even expected, for smalls to guard bigs and bigs to guard smalls on any given possession. Bigs who lack the versatility to switch onto smalls are gradually being phased out of the league.
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Incoming bigs, such as 2018-19 Suns rookie DeAndre Ayton, are having to make the adjustment. Sometimes, things go decently. Other times...ankles get broken.
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Notes: Veteran Pacers PG Darren Collison is the ballhandler who sent Ayton to the floor. Those ended up being two big points, as Indiana won 109-104. Collison finished with 11 points, while Ayton scored 18 with 12 rebounds once his ankles healed.
Barry Bonds Vs. Eric Gagne (4/16/2004)
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I'd originally hoped to post this video back in 2014, in conjunction with Barry Bonds' 50th birthday—to me, it is the most impressive of his 762 home runs.
Eric Gagne was an absolute beast at the time (like Barry, with the help of PEDs, but still), bringing 100+ MPH gas to the 39-year-old superstar. Power vs. power, macho vs. macho, this is one of the greatest at-bats in big league history.
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Notes: Bonds, who walked 232 times in 2004, was only allowed to hit because of the Dodgers' three-run lead. Both "homers" were hit off triple-digit fastballs. Jeffrey Hammonds, who scored ahead of Bonds, had reached with a leadoff walk.
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The Dodgers hung on to win 3-2, as Gagne retired Pedro Feliz and Edgardo Alfonso without much fuss. LA's Odalis Perez threw eight zeroes for the win, while SF's Jason Schmidt went seven in a hard-luck loss.
Astros Win On Walk-Off Popup (4/7/2018)
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My daughter is a fledgling baseball player. Whenever she makes a mistake, I'm quick to remind her that even the big leaguers aren't above committing goofs, and not to get down on herself. Sometimes the message has an impact and sometimes not, but the statement is true—even in the majors, no out is guaranteed.
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Just ask the 2018 Padres—after inducing a popup from the tough Astro Alex Bregman, the battle seemed won. But 1B Eric Hosmer made an oopsie...
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Notes: PR Derek Fisher is who you see racing home with the deciding run; he ran for C Brian McCann following McCann's single earlier in the inning.
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Other infielders converging: P Phil Maton and 3B Christian Villanueva. As the box shows, Hosmer's goof led to a 1-0, 10-inning Houston win. Bregman was credited with a single (I disagree).
Seagulls Interfere With Coco Crisp (6/11/2009)
It started out like any other game, but it ended like no other game I've ever heard of.
Royals at Indians, Jacobs/Progressive Field. (Sorry, I have a thing with original ballpark names. As in I almost never stop using them.)
Cleveland trailed 3-1 until a two-run comeback in the 8th effectuated extra innings. With zero out and two on in the Indians 10th, Shin-Soo Choo singled off Kyle Farnsworth to center field.
Though never credited with a strong arm, KC centerfielder Coco Crisp had a possible shot to cut Mark DeRosa—no speedster—down at the plate and preserve the tie for at least one more hitter.
We'll never know, because a flock of seagulls stationed in center disrupted the play. The ball caromed off one bird (briefly stunning it; it soon flew off seemingly no worse for wear) and away from the oncoming Crisp! DeRosa trotted home with the winning run as the Royals cried "Fowl!"
Outside distractions at Jacobs Field aren't uncommon—recall in 2014 when a Reds reliever flung one over the bullpen wall onto the field, causing a confused Indian to be tagged out. And the unforgettable midges incident with Yankee Joba Chamberlain in the '07 playoffs. (Those are just the ones I know of.)
It is not clear if any of the gulls ran so far away upon leaving the field. Google it.
Notes: Crisp was so angry over the non-interference call, he left the Royals following the next game. Okay, that's not entirely true—following said game, the veteran OF underwent season-ending shoulder surgery, ending his brief Royals career after 49 games.
In his 11th and final season, Matt Herges pitched the 10th for his penultimate MLB victory. Sixth-year reliever Greg Aquino threw three innings in this game—his MLB career ended six days later, though he played on in foreign leagues.