Brett Phillips hits an inside the park home run, a breakdown
What Happened
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brett Phillips, a native of Tampa, steps up to the plate in the late innings of a tight game. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rays are trailing by one run against the Baltimore Orioles. Phillips, known for his speed, faces off against Orioles pitcher Paul Fry. On the first pitch, Fry throws a nice pitch, but it drifts just inside, allowing Phillips to unload and drive the ball into the gap in left-center field. The ball hits the wall and caroms over the head of Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, allowing the speedy Phillips to round first base and race towards second. Seeing the ball get past Mullins, Phillips keeps pushing, rounding second and charging towards third. At that point, Phillips realizes he has a chance at an inside-the-park home run. He dives headfirst into home plate, scoring the tying run in dramatic fashion. The Rays dugout erupts in celebration, and Phillips shares a brief handshake with his hitting coach before acknowledging the cheering fans. "Baseball is fun, baby! Let's go!" Phillips exclaims, embracing the moment. Mullins, the Orioles outfielder, had a chance to field the ball cleanly and make a throw to the plate, but the ball bounced sharply off the wall, allowing Phillips to beat the play at the plate. , the baseball analyst, notes that the difference of just a few inches in where the ball hit the wall was the key factor, causing it to carom past Mullins. goes on to discuss the art of base running, remarking on how skilled players like Phillips navigate the turns and angles around the bases. He suggests that even someone as fast as Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt might struggle with the nuances of rounding the bases without practice. In his post-game interview, the elated Phillips recounts the thrilling inside-the-park homer, the first of his career. "Once I saw it hit off the wall and Cedric make an attempt at it, I thought I had it," Phillips says. "Luckily, my legs didn't give out on me going around third, because I don't know if I would have made it." The enthusiastic player then tells the fans, "That was fun, and obviously you guys pumped me up, so I had to give you what you wanted.".
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentbrett phillips native son of tampa
playing for the tampa rays and speedster
has never hit an inside the park home
run he's gonna take this first pitch
from paul fry and it's a nice pitch by
frye but it's just a little inside
doesn't come back enough so he throws it
again comes back enough but phillips is
ready for it shoots it into the gap in
left center that's going to hit the wall
over cedric's head he's round in second
he's digging for third at that point he
knows he's going home the dive and he's
there inside the park yeah
that's for you
yeah
a little kiss oh oh did they just
kiss in celebration oh man all right
handshake no hug handshake no hug high
fives high fives i think he misses his
hitting coach here
that hand that blank can does he get him
the hitting coach kind of reaches out
for him they might have made contact
didn't feel good for the coach he wants
more he wants more phillips is like no i
gotta go i'm saying what's up to the
boys and i'm letting the camera know
something very important that's near and
dear to my heart hey baseball is fun
baby
let's go
baseball is fun guys preach it brett now
he's going to come back the coach is
going to come say hey hey me too this is
the difference on the play
mullins runs out to the spot now if the
ball hits the track first then the wall
it pops up nice he can camp under and
throw it in but it hits the wall first
then the floor so that's just too sharp
pops up over here that's the difference
right there difference of about
a foot six inches which one it hits
first just shoots right past him now we
gotta watch him round the bases because
there's nothing like a speedster round
in the bases it's an art form it's a bit
of poetry on the baseball field the
perfect blend of speed and route and
turns and angles we had tim locaster on
a show once one of the fastest players
in baseball and we asked him usain bolt
his first time rounding the bases do you
think you could beat him don't get he
doesn't get the practice rounding it but
you know because you just know those
angles so well and i forget his answer
but i can link to the video because he
did answer it do you think you could
beat usain bolt around the bases if you
didn't give him practice
like the art of base running yeah he'd
probably suck at that right yes yes yes
i think i could beat him around the
bases hit those edges what do you think
the odds of that would be
i'm pretty favorite i think you'd be my
favorite if i was making the odds if he
had no
practice like he'd never training yeah
never knew that he might
he might blow out around the bases he's
not used to that that that turning
anyway
look at the dive
and here's brett talking about what he
did hyping up the fans first one in my
career once i saw it hit off the wall
and cedric make an attempt at it i
thought i had it and luckily my legs
didn't give out on me going around third
because i don't know if i would have
made it but like i said first one in the
career that was fun and then obviously
the fans pumped me up who were out here
so i had to give them what they wanted