Kevin Pillar scales the outfield wall to steal a home run
Welcome to what might become a new feature here at Big League Stew: Kevin Pillar’s most insanely awesome catch of the week.
Last Friday, we saw Pillar crash into the wall at Camden Yards in Baltimore to take away extra bases from Chris Davis. That catch came in support of Mark Buerhle in a game Toronto was already comfortably leading by nine runs and held on to win going away.
On Wednesday night, he was at it again in another lop-sided Toronto victory, scaling the left field wall at Rogers Centre to take away what appeared to be a home run from Tampa Bay’s Tim Beckham.
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In this case, the Blue Jays were leading the Rays by eight runs in the seventh inning, but we’re learning that the score just doesn’t matter to Pillar. He’s going full throttle on every play, and the results of those efforts have led to two of the best catches we’re likely to see all season.
That’s an apt description. The SkyDome Spider-man knows no bounds and cares little about the potential consequences of colliding with or scaling outfield walls.
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As for where it ranks among this season’s best, there’s already a solid list of candidates, beginning with Pillar’s other great catch and extending to the remarkable effort of Nolan Arenado on Tuesday night.
What separates those three is the willingness to sacrifice one’s body to secure an out and save a run. They’re the type of plays that can’t be made every day if a player hopes to survive 162 games, but on their own makes us rise from our chairs and exclaim phrases that can’t be repeated.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
