One of the most visually appealing plays in baseball involves the shortstop moving to this left, fielding a ground ball, and executing a spinning throw to first base in an attempt to secure a dazzling out. On Monday evening, St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Edmundo Sosa attempted such a play but, in this particular case, things went terribly wrong and his toss to first base was very wide of the bag. In fact, Sosa’s throw struck the first base umpire Junior Valentine directly in the face, and he was visibly mortified by the result.
An errant throw from Edmundo Sosa hit first base umpire Junior Valentine in the side of the head.
Thankfully, Valentine is okay and is staying in the game. pic.twitter.com/gJqkxsr97A
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 14, 2021
Fortunately, the errant throw seemingly did not as much as damage as it could have, with the umpire able to stay on the field. However, Valentine had an immediate abrasion on the side of his face and, in short, he likely endured some pain, at least in the short term.
https://twitter.com/justgroc/status/1437566904210706433?s=20
As far as the baseball side, Sosa’s mishap did not have any negative effects on the Cardinals. Veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright took the hiccup in stride, generating three outs with haste, including a double play to erase the leadoff baserunner in the second inning. Still, the final result of this particular play likely won’t be the part that folks remember, and this is an example of a play that even a rabid baseball consumer rarely sees.
