By Jeff Stuart
“A good friend of mine used to say, ‘This is a very simple game. You throw
the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes
you lose, sometimes it rains.’ Think about that for a while.”
Nuke Laloosh in the Movie BULL DURHAM
Sometimes the game is on the Line. Sometimes it is not so simple.
The Catches
On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 in Houston, with 2 outs and 2 on in the bottom of the 12th, the Nats led 3-2. Brett Wallace of the Astros looked at 2 strikes, fouled off a pitch and hit Tyler Clippard‘s 4th pitch pitch toward the gap in deep left center. Roger Bernadina, “The Shark”, flew after the hooking fly ball on the run, momentarily disappearing behind a padded outfield support pillar and crashing into the outfield fence. When he reemerged, he showed the ball. He had made the catch. He was unhurt.
“In that moment, you don’t think about it,” Bernadina told The Washington Post. “You just go for it. Whatever it takes to get an out.” In the Bull pen reliever Craig Stammen watched . He shouted, “You got room, you got room,” jumping up and down. “He caught it and I was like, ‘OK, is he dead or alive?’” Stammen said. “And he was alive.”
He went flying into the screen,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “We’re 4 inches from winning the game.” “It was sensational,” said Nationals manager Davey Johnson . ”I thought the ball at first was going to go out. I saw him disappear from my angle. He came out holding the glove high and I
said: ‘This is great, let’s get out of here.'”
Perhaps the first of the Nats “Web Gems” catches was made by rookie left fielder Ryan Church in their inaugural season on June 22, 2005 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Washington led 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Searching for his 23rd save, Closer Chad Cordero got Jose Castillo (2B) to fly out to center and struck out Jackie Wilson (SS). The count on was 1 ball and 2 strikes on Pirate catcher Humberto Cota when he launched a drive deep to left. Church raced back and made a twisting catch and crashed into the left field wall. Crumpled in a heap at the base of the wall, the ball was safely nestled in his glove. It took about a minute for church to get off the ground and join his teammates in celebration. Breathing with difficulty, he needed help from Jamie Carroll to even pull his shirt over his head. The entire team waited more than a minute at midfield for Church to get off the ground and join the celebration.
“It was worth it,” Church said. “Made the catch. Got the ‘W.’ Let’s get out of here.”
“That was the game right there,” said Manager Frank Robinson. “Put a leash around him — a rope around his ankle and then, ‘Go get ’em, buddy. But just remember, that rope is going to get you when you get close to that wall.”
Church had doubled home a run in the 1st inning and walked with 2 out and scored the winning run on a single by Brian Schnieder in the top of the 8th.
A lump on his collarbone was a permanent souvenir from the day he ran into the wall at PNC Park.
It saved the game. But it cost him three weeks on the disabled list. At the time Church was hitting .325 with 28 RBI. For the rest of the season, he hit just .231. A broken toe sent him to the DL for a second time.
On June 1, 2011, at Nats Park, the Nationals led the Phillies 2-1 in the 6th inning with 2 out and the bases loaded. Philadelphia’s Domonic Brown laced a 1-0 pitch from Doug Slaten to left center. A double in the gap. “No way that ball is going to be caught,” thought Nats Manager Jim Riggleman. But
left fielder Laynce Nix sprinted to his left, dove, sprawled out and snagged the ball and from a prone potion held the ball up in this gloved hand to show the umpire. An incredible play.
“I knew the ball was a long way from me off the bat,” said Nix. “And I knew the way he hit it it was going to slice back a little bit and I just had a good beat on it and felt like I could get there…and it slices right back to me at the right time. It’d be easy for that ball to go off the glove or anything happen right there.
“Sometimes when you play the game a long time you just get gut feelings on things. You’re just relieved that it’s in the glove and they don’t score two, three runs right there.”
There was a congratulatory pat from center fielder Roger Bernadina. Right fielder Jason Werth jumped and fist pumped. “We get excited for each other. We know what a good break you’ve got to get to make a play like that. He’s made some great ones and it’s fun to see everybody diving around making plays
in the outfield.” Starting pitcher John Lannan said he felt like things were moving in slow motion as he hoped the ball would hang long enough for Nix to reach it. The Nats won the game, 2-1.
On April 10, 2010, the Nationals beat the New York Mets, 4-3, at Citi Field in New York. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rod Barajas laced the first pitch he saw from Nationals closer Matt Capps, to left field. It looked like the ball was going to drop in for a base hit, but left fielder Willie Harris came on at a dead run and made a sensational diving grab to end the game.
“I said, ‘Willie, you have to catch this ball. At least give it your best effort,'” Harris said. “If the ball falls in front of me, it was the game or at least tied and we have a play at the plate. It was pretty much a gamble. Fortunately, I came up with it and made the play. The next day, Barajas came up to me and told me,’Willie, David Wright told me to hit the ball anywhere except for left field.’ That makes me feel good.”
“That catch was beautiful. It was special,” said teammate Willy Taveras. “It was very beautiful.” He and Harris chest bumped after the catch.
“You know Willie is a good player. Willie can go a lot of places on the field, he is a good hitter and he is fearless,” Nat Manager Jim Riggleman said. “That was a tough play. A lot of guys would have said, ‘You know what, I better take the one hop because the runner wouldn’t have scored from second
because the ball was hit so hard.’ It was a real gutsy play.”
It was the third great catch Harris has made against the Mets since joining the Nationals.
On May 15, 2008, Harris made diving catch at the left-field line on a Ryan Church liner to preserve a 1-0 win for the Nationals at Shea Stadium. Carlos Beltran had led off the ninth with a single against Jon Rauch. A double play later, and the Nats had won. Harris told announcer Dave Jageler that that one stood out on installment of Inside Pitch Live.
“I had to run a long way and made a diving play. I think about that catch sometimes when I get down and out and it picks me back up and makes me believe in myself all over again. I think that’s the best one.”
“You had a great one earlier this season to save a game against the Mets,” Jageler told Willie. “I went into the park the next day and my buddy who works in the Mets scoreboard room turns to me in the ninth inning and says, ‘I think we’re going to win it, as long as we don’t hit it to Willie Harris.’ They know. You’re in their heads.”
On Sept 16, 2008 season, Harris made a nice leaping catch on a David Wright drive at Nationals Park. Wright, who had the Mets only hit through five innings came to bat in the 6th inning. Brian Schneider had led off the inning with a single. With two out and two on, Wright ripped a liner toward the
left-field fence. Harris, just 5-foot-9, leaped and grabbed the ball about a foot over his head. Rounding first, Wright dropped to his knees and slammed his helmet in the dirt. It was,eventually, another 1-0 nationals win. “He is terrific defensively, no matter where you put him,” said Wright.
In Baltimore on the June 25th, 2010, the Orioles beat the Nats, 7-6. In the bottom of the third, it looked like Corey Patterson was going to hit a home run off J.D. Martin, but Morgan climbed the wall to rob the former Nat of a home run. Patterson, who tipped his helmet toward Nyger after the play, ranked the catch among the best he’s ever seen.
“It was a good play,” Patterson said. “I thought I had enough to get it out, but he climbed up there, and it was a great catch. He does a great job for them, had a great game today.” Morgan ended up going 4-for-5 with three runs scored.
“It may have been the greatest play of the year,” Manager Riggleman said.
“I’m like, ‘He’s got no shot,'” said Orioles interim manager Juan Samuel, as he watched Morgan scale the wall. “Especially, you know how much the ball travels here. But that’s one of the finest catches I have seen.”
“It was a nice catch,” said Morgan, “but the game hurts — losing to the ball club over there. We have a really good team over here. We didn’t bury them. That’s what really hurts. The catch was nothing. Wish we would have had that ‘W’ tonight.” That Nats had an early 6-0 lead.
The Throws
On Monday, April 16, 2012, at Nats Park, Carlos Lee flied out in the top of the 6th inning in a 6-3 win over the Astros. The bases were loaded with none out. Nationals center fielder Rick Ankiel fired a throw home. Houston’s speedy Jordan Schafer, who had 22 stolen bases last year, never even considered tagging up and trying to score from third base. Ankiel’s throw never touched the ground before reaching Wilson Ramos. The home crowd gave Ankiel a standing ovation. Ankiel, who gave up pitching because he had control problems from 60 feet 6 inches, threw a strike from 300 feet away.
Ankiel made several outstanding catches too but that throw stands out.
On Saturday night, April 28, in his Major League debut in Los Angeles, Bryce Harper went 1 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and and RBI. He doubled in his third at-bat for his first big league hit.
Strasburg was protecting a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on first and second and one out, A.J. Ellis singled to left field. Harper made a perfect throw to the plate. But catcher Wilson Ramos dropped the ball. That allowed ex Nat Jerry Hairston to score the tying run. Hairston appeared to swipe the ball out of Ramos’ glove.
“He smacked the ball. He is out,” said Manager Davey Johnson, “We couldn’t get any help from the umpires. They obviously didn’t see it.”
“It’s an aggressive slide, and it so happens I hit his glove,” said Hairston. It happens.”
On Tuesday, May 1, in his first game at Nationals Park, a 5-1 loss to Arizona, Harper again launched a throw that brought the crowd to its feet. the seventh inning. Bryce settled underneath Arizona shortstop John McDonald‘s fly ball. The runner at third base crouched. The ball landed in Harper’s glove. “I thought I had a shot,” Harper said. “I reared back and gave it my all.” Home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson called McDonald safe on a close play. The replay showed that McDonald was tagged on the leg before he touched home plate.
“He’s a talented kid, no doubt about it,” D-backs catcher Miguel Montero said about Harper. “He’s got a great arm. I didn’t know that.”
“He did it how he was supposed to,” coach Bo Porter said. “When you get completely behind the ball with momentum, that’s when you can make a throw like that,” said Porter, who coaches outfielders. “He did a great job. He had all his momentum going toward the plate.”
On Sunday September 1 in Washington, the Nats edged the Cardinals, 4-3. And Harper finally did throw out a runner. The only time Stephen Strasburg, who pitched 6 scoreless innings, was in trouble Sunday was the fourth. With runners on first and third with one out, Bryan Anderson hit a fly ball to
Bryce Harper in right field. Harper caught the ball and threw out Alan Craig at the plate to end the inning. The crowd of 31,096 roared their approval. Craig had stolen a base, just his second of the year, the night before and scored the winning run in the 9th inning.
“What I was impressed with about that throw was Harper didn’t try to airmail it all the way,” Johnson said. “When he first got here, that would’ve been all the way in the air. He actually had a chance to hit the cutoff man there, which was outstanding. But he’s got a great arm. Charged the ball well, and he didn’t have to look up. He knew he was going home all the way.”
On his way off the mound, Strasburg pointed his glove at Harper, an acknowledgment from one first overall pick to another. Catcher Suzuki pumped his fist.
It happened again on Sept 7, in a 10 inning 9-7 loss to the Marlins, at Nats Park. The Marlins attempted to take the lead in the ninth inning with Drew Storen on the mound. With one out and a runner on first and third, Brantly hit a fly ball to Harper, who caught the ball on the run and came up throwing with Greg Dobbs tagging from third. The 250 foot throw, a perfect strike to Suzuki, was right on line and nailed Dobbs at home with seconds to spare. Word is getting out that Bryce has a really strong arm and maybe you don’t want to test it if you are a base runner.
“Defense to me is the key to playing…. I used to love to run down a fly ball. I used to love to throw a guy out.” Willie Mays. “One of the beautiful things about baseball is that every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to reach down and prove something.” Nolan Ryan
Willie Harris
