Yoenis Cespedes has the New York Mets’ best batting average right now, and the fourth overall in the National League, which might be why he decided to give himself a little break and not pick up a ball that was literally right next to him in the outfield.
https://twitter.com/iamjoonlee/status/713074805872975872
If the ball had been wedged under the fence, or become stuck in some way, it would have been ruled dead and resulted in an automatic double. But clearly it wasn’t, so instead, a very confused A. J. Reed trotted around the bases for an inside-the-park home run while Cespedes just stood there.
Eventually, second base umpire C.B. Bucknor jogged out to the wall to see if Cespedes had tried, you know, bending over.
It’s possible that Cespedes was remembering that heartbreaking time last year when teammate Wilmer Flores hit a line drive that should have earned the Mets a run but instead was ruled a double because of the infamous ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uhs5O6A7xg
“He thought it got stuck,” said Manager Terry Collins. “What had happened was the umpire went out and swiped the ball and said, ‘OK, it wasn’t stuck underneath.’ It’s one of those things we could probably talk about a ground rule, which we don’t here in spring training too much. He thought the ball went under and stuck and just threw his hands up.”
The Mets ended up losing to the Astros 8-5.
H/T Deadspin | Photo via Major League Baseball
