Best bizarre base running play you'll ever see, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the ninth inning of a 7-7 game, José Altuve of the Houston Astros steps up to the plate. On the first pitch, Altuve crushes a deep fly ball to center field. Astros center fielder Kevin Pillar gives chase and leaps at the wall, making an incredible catch to rob Altuve of a walk-off home run. However, as Pillar comes down, he loses control of the ball, and it falls to the ground. Pillar realizes his mistake immediately and hustles to tag second base, knowing the batter will have to go back to first. Meanwhile, Astros pinch-hitter "Oh Hoppy" rounds the bases, unaware that Pillar dropped the ball. The Astros dugout starts yelling for "Oh Hoppy" to stop running, but he continues to race toward home plate. "Oh Hoppy" reaches home just as Pillar is tagging first base. The umpire must now determine whether "Oh Hoppy" passed Pillar on the bases, which would negate the home run. The Astros players and coaches anxiously watch the replay on the scoreboard, which shows "Oh Hoppy" narrowly beating Pillar to first base. "The realization is crushing," says Astros manager Dusty Baker, as his players stare in disbelief at the replay. The umpire reviews the play and ultimately rules that "Oh Hoppy" did not pass Pillar, allowing the home run to stand. The Astros dugout erupts in celebration, with players ripping off "Oh Hoppy's" shirt and covering him in bubble gum. "That's one of the best bizarre base running plays I've ever seen," remarks the television announcer. "It's smart running on so many levels, and very crazy that he lost the ball in that moment." The Astros win the game 8-7 on the walk-off home run by "Oh Hoppy," capping off an incredibly heads-up and unconventional sequence of events.
Why This Matters
Altuve crushes what looks like a walk-off bomb in the bottom of the ninth, but Pillar makes an insane catch at the wall only to DROP it immediately after. The baserunning decision that follows is so bizarre and genius that it'll make your brain hurt in the best way possible.
With 444K views, this bonkers play ranks #676 all-time on Jomboy, proving people can't get enough of baseball chaos.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: José Altuve, Kevin.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentsome of the best base running i've ever seen in a very different way than you usually say that
phrase this is an old situation i didn't make it when it happened and i just came back across the
footage and watched it again i was like oh my god i don't think i realized how amazing this is
and kind of different you don't see it a lot so it's brought to you by draft kings and i'm doing
a breakdown of it so the people that are like you're late you're late i know i don't care
it's awesome people need to see it if they haven't seen oh hoppy is up to bat
pilar's on first it's seven seven bottom of the ninth inning haters first pitch is a slider that
oh hoppy just sits on and crushes but fielder's got a beat on it pulls it back in oh no what
happened there it is it's a home run that kid's got it i'll be saying home run home run okay hold
up what's this about no no no no dugout is yelling no no no hater says he ran past him
um
I'm just like okay we'll check all right we'll look at it hater looks at oh hoppy down there he
says nah you ran past him yeah no you ran past him so the crowd is just delighted oh hoppy rounds
home they celebrate it's a little mild of a celebration because i think they know they're
going to review or replay here but they're celebrating all the same they rip his shirt
off make sure he looks good and i love this shot showing all the astros players and astros
looking at the jumbotron waiting for the replay but what they're showing on the jumbotron is a
shirtless oh hoppy get bubble gummed and bubble gum crowned so they're just staring at that like
that's not what we want to watch they go to the umpire like can you check because
what happened ran past him outfielder says i caught it and then i hit my came out you can
see the center fielder come over and go uh came out damn so here's what he's talking about it's a
great catch by jumbotron waiting for the replay but what they're showing on the jumbotron is a
tray cabbage like he goes up and he gets this ball and robs the walk-off homer but when he comes down
he loses it because like he told his teammate he hit the wall and the realization is crushing so
it's in his glove and then his forearm bangs with the glove kind of face down or his hand
and it just falls out right there he thinks he has it oh
oh meanwhile pilar reads it
so this is the base running he runs he runs gets on second realizes he has to go back because he
think he caught the ball and such awareness by him and the ump to make sure you step on that base
because we've seen so many players that step on second run past it and don't retouch it on their
way back he retouches it like 20 times does a double foot jump and now he's headed back so
that was great base running by pilar there this blew my mind so oh hoppy knows
that if if he runs past pilar he's out and the home run doesn't count pilar's running back to
touch first and oh hoppy has to beat him to the bag and the coach is screaming and shouting stop
stop stop so pilar's got to put on the brakes just in the nick of time to not touch first oh
hoppy touches first then the first base coach has to make sure he doesn't touch the player
because if he touches the player they're out as well and he has presence of mind to not touch the
just a race right here oh hoppy to not get outrun by pilar pilar realizes don't touch first base
and the coach realizes don't touch the players and they all do their job perfectly so it's just
smart base running on a situation where you've never really seen people have to be so aware of
all the intricacies of the rules in one small situation uh or you know a condensed area
in like two seconds of time anyway they round the bases umpire says yeah that's a home run
and now they celebrate oh kotak what up high fives high fives bubblegum's empty but you're
still the king this breakdown is brought to you by draft kings thank you draft kings for
sponsoring the breakdown thank you guys for watching them i was thoroughly kind of blown
away with this one like whoa that is very smart on so many levels and very crazy that he lost the
ball in that moment so i just
i had to share it with anyone that had not seen it