How Jean Segura's kindness cost the Diamondbacks 180 feet
As their former starting shortstop, Jean Segura undoubtedly has some fond memories of his time with the Milwaukee Brewers. Chief among those, no doubt, would be his first career hit, which he collected on Aug. 8, 2012, against the Cincinnati Reds.
Fast forward nearly four years later, that brings us to Friday night at Chase Field in Phoenix. Imagine the irony there as Segura was on hand to watch Orlando Arcia, Milwaukee’s new shortstop of the future and the likely reason he was traded to Arizona this winter, collect his first hit.
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A little weird, right? Perhaps even awkward for Segura, as perhaps he envisioned himself holding off Arcia or at least staying in Milwaukee a few years longer.
If that was the case though, Segura didn’t show it. Instead, he was very kind and cordial toward Arcia as he made sure the rookie got the milestone baseball one day after his 22nd birthday.
In fact, Segura was a little too kind, or at least too eager to be cordial, because he forgot to call timeout before throwing the baseball into Milwaukee’s dugout.
Orlando Arcia got his first @MLB hit … and an extra base. How? https://t.co/MIbDP6oNcx pic.twitter.com/kFy1sdOZRw
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 6, 2016
Yes, the umpires still considered the ball to be live, even though they were no doubt aware of what was happening too. As a result, Segura was charged with the most well-intended error in the history of baseball, while Arcia was awarded two additional bases with the ball being tossed out of play.
D’oh!
Fortunately for Arizona, Arcia was left stranded at third base. The only damage done there was the run scored on his hit, and perhaps to Segura’s feelings. Things did eventually even themselves out too. With the game tied in the 11th inning, Arcia committed a critical error that allowed Arizona to load the bases. One batter later, Welington Castillo drew a walkoff walk, giving Arizona a 3-2 win.
If there’s justice, perhaps that’s baseball’s way of serving it. More likely though, it’s just baseball being its ironic but always entertaining self.
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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!
