Adrian Beltre will never be the same after this awkward swing
If there’s one thing Adrian Beltre never is at the plate, it’s cheated. The 37-year-old slugger loves to let it fly when he thinks he knows what’s coming, and that approach can lead to any number of results.
Sometimes, the results are good, as in a home run. Sometimes, the results are bad, as in a swing-and-miss. Other times, the results are downright awkward, which would be the swing-and-miss where Beltre falls to one knee. And then there are times you’re left wondering if Beltre will ever possibly be the same again.
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We’ll put Friday’s unfortunate attempt against Toronto’s R.A. Dickey under the latter category, because for a moment it appeared that both his swing and his spirit had been broken.
As you know, Dickey is a knuckleball specialist. That’s the pitch he relies on at all times. It’s an impossible pitch for any hitter to prepare for, because not even the pitcher really knows where it’s going once he releases it. In this case though, Beltre obviously thought he was getting a knuckleball up in the zone that he could tee off on.
He actually wasn’t wrong. The pitch was up. However, it dipped just enough that Beltre completely whiffed to finish off a strikeout. In the process he was brought to his knee and left empty-handed as the bat soared.
Beltre wasn’t alone at least. Dickey struck out six batters in leading Toronto to a 5-0 win. Still, you will never witness a more awkward swing from a professional baseball player not named Bartolo Colon.
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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
