Friday Night Fun: Yan Gomes Keeps It Light About His Accidental Tackle
Let me say up front that, even if Yan Gomes hadn’t collided with Drew Smyly in the 8th inning on that dribbler, I don’t think either one of them is making the play. It was just a perfectly awful squib that was going to be a hit no matter what.
THAT SAID, of course it was extra melancholy to see Smyly lose his perfect game on a play like that.
I’m glad that the rest of the baseball world got to have some fun with a crazy moment, but I imagine it was a little tough to swallow in the clubhouse, at least initially. The guys were really close to history, and I don’t think you want the end of that to totally become a joke. Smyly had a great attitude about the play and the whole game, even if you could tell he was disappointed:
But that doesn’t mean you can’t joke about the crazy play eventually. In fact, it’s probably a great sign of the mood in the clubhouse that the Cubs do have a sense of humor about this kind of thing.
Yan Gomes himself typified it perfectly when he came out for his post-game interview … wearing a football helmet:
