This might be the most painful baseball moment I’ve ever seen – and that includes the walk-off wild-pitch on an intentional walk we examined yesterday.
Here’s the scene: Down a single run with two outs in the ninth, Jack Cust took off from first base as a single was laced into right center field. As he approached third, however, the third base coach threw up a late stop sign, forcing Cust to slam on the brakes, and, ultimately, fall to the ground.
Obviously, given the late stop sign and the intensity of the moment, that fall wasn’t too embarrassing (or, at least, it was understandable), but Cust was caught in a rundown nonetheless, and things looked like they were about to be over.
But then, suddenly, Cust got out of the jam and was barreling towards a WIDE OPEN home plate looking like he was about to be a huge hero and score the game-tying run, when … OH NO.
HE FELL AGAIN:
Game.Over.
The cringe-factor on this is painfully high, and you can definitely feel his teammate’s disappointment standing just behind home plate, watching helplessly, as the game comes to an unbelievable (and somewhat hilarious) ending. Woof. That is seriously tough to watch.