The Weirdest Walk-Off In Pro Baseball History?
Posted: 24 May 2025 14:54 pm
Vin Scully used to say "Every time you come to a ballgame, you're going to see something you've never seen before." Here's proof, thanks to The Athletic's partial report on a AAA game that ended like no other:
What the heck was it? Just your average game-winning, lead-flipping, bases-loaded, two-run double — which also included …
• The runners on first and third base scoring but not the guy on second.
• The most bonkers obstruction call in the history of obstruction calls.
• The winning run scoring while nobody was looking because the center fielder had no idea any of this was happening.
All right, so that didn’t clear any of this up. I’ll keep going. Why didn’t the runner on second score? Because of obstruction!
What was so bonkers about the obstruction call? Only this: Ildemaro Vargas, who had been hanging out in the Reno dugout, saw the baseball land in the gap — and said to himself: Good time to start celebrating! So he sprinted out of the dugout and slammed into the runner on second (Blaze Alexander) between third and home … meaning that Alexander wasn’t the winning run. He was out!
How’d the winning run score while nobody was looking? Because you know who else wasn’t paying much attention? Isotopes center fielder Sam Hilliard. He just assumed the game was over. So he turned and fired the baseball into the stands. Which gave a whole new meaning to the term “fan-friendly,” because that ball wasn’t dead, despite all the nutty goings on back on the basepaths.
So the umpires huddled, awarded the final runner (Andy Weber) two more bases because of that thrown ball into the stands. And …
This game was over."
I dare ya to top that one. Vin was right.
What the heck was it? Just your average game-winning, lead-flipping, bases-loaded, two-run double — which also included …
• The runners on first and third base scoring but not the guy on second.
• The most bonkers obstruction call in the history of obstruction calls.
• The winning run scoring while nobody was looking because the center fielder had no idea any of this was happening.
All right, so that didn’t clear any of this up. I’ll keep going. Why didn’t the runner on second score? Because of obstruction!
What was so bonkers about the obstruction call? Only this: Ildemaro Vargas, who had been hanging out in the Reno dugout, saw the baseball land in the gap — and said to himself: Good time to start celebrating! So he sprinted out of the dugout and slammed into the runner on second (Blaze Alexander) between third and home … meaning that Alexander wasn’t the winning run. He was out!
How’d the winning run score while nobody was looking? Because you know who else wasn’t paying much attention? Isotopes center fielder Sam Hilliard. He just assumed the game was over. So he turned and fired the baseball into the stands. Which gave a whole new meaning to the term “fan-friendly,” because that ball wasn’t dead, despite all the nutty goings on back on the basepaths.
So the umpires huddled, awarded the final runner (Andy Weber) two more bases because of that thrown ball into the stands. And …
This game was over."
I dare ya to top that one. Vin was right.
