There have been a lot of really weird things that have happened during baseball games ever since the first recorded game was played 177 years ago. This — which happened during a game between the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston’s Triple-A squad — is a new one.
The basics: former MLB catcher Humberto Quintero was behind the plate for the Red Sox, while Luke Maile was at the dish for the Bulls. Quintero tried to throw out a runner who stole third, but instead of throwing it to third, he threw it right into the stomach of the Rays’ prospect.
A few things: 1) Ouch. 2) This probably wasn’t intentional, but it’s still extremely weird. Quintero’s thrown to third thousands of times in his catching career, and I’m willing to bet that he’s never done this before. 3) Maile’s reaction was pretty great, as he went from “collapsing onto the ground” to “turning onto his side and looking at Quintero because he just threw a baseball point blank into his stomach.”
Fortunately for Maile, he got the last laugh, as Durham beat Pawtucket, 5-1. The two teams play again Saturday, maybe Maile will get revenge by hitting Quintero with an RKO or something.
(via Ryan Thibs)