Steven Souza makes great running catch, goes sailing into stands

Major League Baseball is always looking for ways to get the fans more involved, but we’re not so certain the recent trend of players sailing into the stands is something they had in mind.

Granted, these leaps of faith aren’t just random acts of affection and/or insanity, though sometimes they do resemble the latter. They are honest efforts to make plays on the baseball, and more times than not result in webgems.

Case in point, during Friday’s game at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Steven Souza Jr. sold out completely to make a running catch near the home team’s bullpen and ended up going head-first over the wall.

The effort was truly outstanding as Souza took an extra swing away from Boston’s Mookie Betts, but it was thoroughly complicated by the ballpark’s set up. First, there was the bullpen mound, which Souza knew could trip him up if he caught it the wrong way. Not that he seemed to care. He’d already decided early that he was simply going for it, and thankfully was able to avoid an awkward step or twisted ankle.

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(AP) After clearing that hurdle and impressively catching the ball at the same time, Souza had another problem: momentum. After running a great distance at high speeds, he had no chance to put on the brakes as the short wall down the right field line got closer. All he could do was brace himself as his knees struck the wall and his upper body tumbled over, sending him head-first into the stands.

It had the potential to be bad, but Souza clearly got his hands out to cushion the fall. Of course, concerns then turn to a hand or wrist injury, but Souza quickly bounced to his feet and went about his business,. It was just another day at the office, for he is Steven Souza, the risk-taking no-hit savior himself.

In comparison to other crowd dives, we’d still give the edge to Josh Donaldson for his effort on Wednesday against these same Rays.

For starters, Donaldson was going into the stands as he made the catch, which elevates the degree of difficulty. Also, Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada was bidding for a perfect game in the eighth inning when Donaldson made that grab, so there was a lot more on the line. Despite Souza’s efforts, the Rays still lost 4-3 to Boston.

Souza’s catch was more akin to that of Derek Jeter during the 2004 season, because it was the momentum that carried himself into the stands. Make no mistake though, both were outstanding.

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