Earlier this year, baseball fans were treated to the latest exhausting round of debate about the unwritten rules of the game. Yermin Mercedes of the Chicago White Sox hit a baseball to Mars against the Minnesota Twins, but it came with a position player pitching and a 3-0 count in a game Chicago was winning by 11 runs. His manager, Tony La Russa, said he was fine with whatever sort of consequences (i.e. the Twins throwing at him) came as a result of this.
Well, hopefully, someone shows La Russa what happened during a Coastal Plain League game on Thursday, because we have to imagine his response would be something unforgettable. Josh Lavender, an infielder for the Savannah Bananas, walked up to the plate against the Macon Bacon — ASIDE: this is the best matchup of team names in sports — and enlisted a dang golf caddy and a range finder.
The commitment to the bit is really admirable, with Lavender keeping a scorecard in his pocket and the caddy handing him a club before deciding it is probably better to use a baseball bat in this instance. The whole thing is terrific, with the Bacon’s catcher laughing before the whole thing gets underway.
Listen, I love baseball, as do many others, but the sport can make you roll your eyes very easily when stuff like La Russa’s reaction to Mercedes’ dinger happens and people try to do everything in their power to prevent the sport from being fun. This, on the other hand, is legitimately funny and does not hurt a single soul. More of it, at all levels of the sport, would be a good thing.