The following play is really a combination of three unbelievably great moves, but instead of setting it up/walking you through it, let’s just take a look. I think the difficulty in all three moves speaks for itself:
In the bottom of the fifth inning in a one-run ball game, Jay Bruce sends a towering drive into deep left-center field. The ball doesn’t have enough lift to leave the outfield, but he does bounce it off the wall and make his way around second base with some giddy-up.
As the ball bounces away from center fielder Brandon Barnes, Bruce looks like he’s on his way to an easy stand up triple … until left fielder Gerardo Parra (who’s already overrun the ball) decides to glove it ahead of Barnes and make an excellent, strong and accurate throw to third base (1).
At this point, even though Parra is clearly trying to make a play on Bruce, you can tell that the announcers are not expecting what happened next. Three-time Gold Glover Nolan Arenado picks the ball on a hop (2), spins and makes an excellent, lightning-quick, unexpected tag to nail Bruce in his tracks (3). Just look at where these guys were when Arenado received the ball – somehow he turned this into an out:
I think just about everyone involved on that play was surprised by what happened.
And that, little leaguers, is why you never give up on a play.