Pretty much every inside-the-park home run that happens at the big league level is necessarily going to involve some wonkiness. Sometimes, it’s a “little league” home run, with the defense throwing the ball around. Sometimes it’s just a guy with BLAZING fast speed taking advantage of the slightest misstep. But never in my nearly 10 years of covering baseball professionally have I see an inside the park home run quite like this one.
Luke Raley’s 17th home run of the season is going to be one I remember for a long time.
How did this ball not get out?!
— MLB (@MLB) August 16, 2023
This might be the coolest inside-the-park home run you’ll ever see. pic.twitter.com/ZlJf27VbrD
UNREAL. It just bounces perfectly along the top of the center field wall after ricocheting off the right field brick, making the outfielders look silly as it changes directions on a dime.
And here’s where that gets really weird/funny: Statcast suggests that a ball hit with that velocity (110 MPH) and angle (24 degrees) traveling that distance (425 feet) would be a no-doubter, over-the-wall home run in all 30 ballparks. Obviously, it didn’t quite get out there in San Francisco, but thanks to the unusual outfield wall at Oracle Park, Raley still got his trip around the bases. He just had to earn it.
