17 Comments
User's avatar
Sam Fortier's avatar

Sam, no one contextualizes baseball like you do. One of my favorite reads in sports.

Adam's avatar

Agree! This is so good!

Johnny's avatar

This is a great piece, Sam. A good one to release for free at some point and show people how great your work is and bring in more subscribers.

Sam Miller's avatar

Don't tell the subscribers, but I actually did set this one to be free

BK432's avatar

Couldn't possibly love this all more. I don't comment on every release, but just know that I love them all.

Andrew O'Hara's avatar

Not as aesthetically pleasing, but I've always thought this catch by Jarrod Dyson was incredible. The distance he ran to get it and the height of the wall add points for difficulty.

https://youtu.be/B6wha6tYiuM?si=AZ828ZgOkPtvsWQ7

Burton Beers's avatar

Denzel is from Canada. I don’t know why but it makes these catches even more amazing.

chef Harrison's avatar

Fascinating read! I’m Harrison, an ex fine dining line cook. My stack "The Secret Ingredient" adapts hit restaurant recipes for easy home cooking.

check us out:

https://thesecretingredient.substack.com

Kyle's avatar

I’m sharing this w the peeps who have mentioned this catch!

Al's avatar

How does it compare, do you think, to Trout, Edmonds, Endy Chavez, Griffey, Devon White? Who am I missing?

joek's avatar

Until this one, Gary Matthews Jr. was the top spot for me.

Sam Miller's avatar

I think it's still GMJ for me

joek's avatar

My other favorite will always be Brian Giles, because I’m about 5 rows back from where he caught it: https://youtu.be/XTsbaW5KuhU?si=1W1pgQ3jIqW7zsWF

Zach's avatar

With all due respect to Mike Trout, that play has "gold glove based on batting average" vibes to me. Great catch, gettable ball, notorious because 2012 Mike Trout.

Griffey (and Buxton and Harper), to me, is a story of a fantastic hitter getting injured for cool or eyewash points. Clark's attempts are a story of taking whatever risks to stay on the roster.

I watch the Edmonds play on loop whenever it comes up. Unbelievable. Still have Gary Matthews Jr higher.

Underrated are the catch(es?) by the Blue Jays left fielder who scaled a 9' wall to catch a ball barely over the fence with full extension. Less visually pleasing, needed to be timed absolutely perfectly.

Bill's avatar

curtis granderson on wily mo pena is one of the great forgotten catches!!!

Bill's avatar

update: after years of this catch not "existing" because it happened JUST before youtube really got going, the video is back: https://www.facebook.com/Tigers/videos/curtis-grandson-robs-wily-mo-pena/231715461170886/