Xander Bogaerts completes Little League grand slam with acrobatic slide
The Little League World Series is over now, but that really isn’t relevant to what you’re about to see here.
Despite the fact that we termed it a ‘Little League home run,’ we’re confident in saying that none of the teams in Williamsport were involved in any plays resembling this disaster.
[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]
Take it away, Philadelphia Phillies.
Did we say home run? Make that an error-assisted grand slam for Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
First and foremost, allow us to credit Bogaerts for his hitting. He did a nice job inside-outing the pitch from Philadelphia’s Alec Asher and driving it into the corner for what should have been a bases-clearing double.
Not let’s dissect the Phillies defense. Right fielder Aaron Asher actually did his job, scooping the ball out of the corner and firing back in to cutoff man Cesar Hernandez. Things went haywire though when Hernandez uncorked his throw short and to the first base side, where it short hopped catcher Carlos Ruiz and skipped away.
From there, it was all about hustle. Asher was where he needed to be, backing up home plate, but Bogaerts stayed aggressive and attempted to score anyway. Asher flipped the ball to Ruiz well ahead of Bogaerts’ arrival, however, he got around the tag attempt with an outstanding slide.
It won’t go down as a home run in the stats, but if you’re looking to complete a 360-foot trip around the bases with some flash and drama, that’s how you do it right there. What a great effort from Bogaerts to break the game open in Boston’s eight-run fourth inning.
By the way, later in the same frame David Ortiz connected for a conventional home run, giving him 496 for his career. The Red Sox won the game 9-2.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
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
