Adam McCalvy
ANAHEIM — It didn\u2019t strike Brewers heart fielder Sal Frelick<\/a> on the time, however what a strategy to punctuate the night time the baseball world bid farewell to Willie Mays.<\/a>
\u201cIt\u2019s type of cool doing it at the moment,\u201d Frelick stated.
Just a few outfielders within the historical past of the game patrolled heart with the flare and finesse of Mays, who handed away on Tuesday earlier than Frelick completed Main League Baseball\u2019s slate of video games with a leaping, game-saving catch to finish the Brewers\u2019 6-3 win<\/a> over the Angels at Angel Stadium.
A mistimed leap, or a bump of the wall, or just some extra inches on Taylor Ward\u2019s booming fly ball, and it will have been a tying, three-run house run — to not point out an absolute crusher for the Brewers, who held a 6-0 lead with one out within the backside of the ninth earlier than the Angels began cobbling collectively a rally.
As an alternative, the 5-foot-9 Frelick got here again to Earth with the baseball in his glove, and the Brewers began celebrating.
The response from Brewers catcher Gary S\u00e1nchez and nearer Trevor Megill — who\u2019d simply been summoned to face Ward — stated all of it. Megill was Milwaukee\u2019s third reliever to look in a half-inning that featured 4 hits, a stroll, two wild pitches and, up to now, solely two outs. After the catch, S\u00e1nchez and Megill stood there with their fingers atop their heads.
https:\/\/t.co\/81qyh3qkpy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/5V45JFV0jS<\/a>
"Sal\u2019s play goes down within the document books in Brewers historical past as one of many dramatic finishes to a sport," supervisor Pat Murphy stated.
What did Murphy assume when the baseball left Ward\u2019s bat?
\u201cI used to be considering, \u2018tie rating,\u2019\u201d Murphy stated.
\u201cYou see him monitoring it and lining it up and you understand it\u2019s going to be shut,\u201d stated left fielder Christian Yelich, who\u2019d started the night with his 200th career home run.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s enormous for us. There\u2019s no telling how that sport ends. We\u2019re in all probability nonetheless on the market grinding.\u201d
Mentioned a dejected Ward: \u201cI believe it\u2019s simply baseball. I wasn\u2019t solely certain if I bought it or not, nevertheless it was a hell of a play on his half.\u201d
At first, Frelick downplayed the problem of the catch, saying he was positioned so completely in a \u201cno doubles\u201d protection, shaded barely to the other area for the right-handed-hitting Ward, that it solely took three steps again plus a well-timed bounce.
\u201cActually not that loopy of a play,\u201d Frelick stated. \u201cI believe it was simply, proper spot, proper time.\u201d
That\u2019s an understatement.
\u201cYou follow a lot and typically you don\u2019t even get a ball within the outfield,\u201d Frelick stated. \u201cWhat number of instances do you also have a probability to rob a house run?\u201d
A dialog in heart area on Tuesday afternoon foreshadowed the dramatic end. Murphy discovered himself chatting with the Angels\u2019 Mickey Moniak and Jo Adell, who have been training house run robberies.
\u201cI stated, \u2018Let me ask you guys one thing. Is it me, or have we had extra robbed house runs this yr than ever?\u2019\u201d Murphy stated.
The gamers agreed.
So what\u2019s the reply?
\u201cLarger, stronger, sooner,\u201d Murphy stated, describing at the moment\u2019s hitters. \u201cAll people\u2019s enjoying deeper. They\u2019re nearer to the wall they usually perceive they will do that. I believe, basically, guys are enjoying deeper.\u201d
It\u2019s not the primary time in current reminiscence for the Brewers. On Could 29 in opposition to the Cubs, Blake Perkins was in heart area for the Brewers, and he hit a home run and robbed a home run<\/a> in the identical Milwaukee victory.
And for Frelick, it was a flashback to a different sensational catch on Sept. 10 of final season, when he made a leaping seize whereas concurrently crashing into the wall and proper fielder Joey Wiemer to keep a no-hit bid alive for the Brewers through 10 innings<\/a> of an eventual loss to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
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\u201cIf Sal\u2019s close to it,\u201d Murphy stated, \u201cit goes in his glove 99.9 p.c of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n