Those guys diving at the old Astro Dome are hardcore. Astroturf is one of the most cruel surfaces for players to play on - it was 100% something only used by owners looking to get rid of the lawn care crew. All it did was cause injuries.
Well it was also for indoor stadiums where they couldn’t get proper sunlight for the whole field to grow evenly. But that was an added bonus. Though it turned out to be a pain to maintain anyway, so most stadiums stopped using the stuff in the following builds.
Grass was originally planted in the AstroDome, however, because of the glare from the windows overhead in the outfield, players couldn't see the ball. So the windows were painted opaque, then the grass died. Thus AstroTurf.
Guess again. Originally, the stadium's surface was a Tifway 419 Bermuda grass, specifically bred for indoor use. The dome's ceiling contained thousands of semi-transparent panes made of Lucite. Players quickly complained that glare coming off the panes made it hard for them to track fly balls; to solve the problem, two sections of panes were painted white in April. However, within a few months, the grass died from lack of sunlight. For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on green-painted dirt and dead grass. The clear panels also added a problem when combined with the natural grass. The grass tended to hold, then release moisture, often resulting in rain within the structure, causing games to be delayed while the grounds crews cleaned up the playing surface.
I'm glad the Iguchi play is on here. I see it on way to few highlight reels. His play was one of the best I've ever seen, especially since he was falling
What you really mean it wasn’t impressive because someone outwitted Molina. Has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the runner touched third base. If I were the runner I would’ve rubbed it in Molina’s face.
That Jim Edmonds catch in KC is the best catch I’ve ever seen. Still can’t believe he came up with that ball. The Buehrle between the legs glove flip needs to be on here!
He made the plays look too easy, that's why he was underappreciated. The same thing with Ryne Sandberg. He made plays that no one else could, yet he made them look so easy and effortless that he was never given the credit he was due as one of the greatest defensive second basemen of all time.
With all of his baseball career including minors, World Classic Baseball, MLB. Yadi is the best catcher there is. He once said, “Respect the rank!” after Cubs’s catcher, Willson Contreras, loudmouthed claiming he’s better than Yadi.
Benito Santiago was the originator of throwing out base runners from his knees,people thought he was showing off until he regularly did it. I saw Brady Clark of the Brewers make a catch at Coors Field that was the #1 play on ESPN that day!
@@cindyinnew Harry Carey was fun to listen to. He added a lot to the broadcast and was fun to listen to. He was great, in stark contrast to the raving lunatic idiot Hawk Harrelson.
6:26 - Tony Barron lasted maybe six months in the majors, and that's the only thing he is remembered for, but thirty years on people still talk about it. That was Veteran's Stadium, that awful dump. Astroturf as hard as vinyl flooring, with solid concrete underneath. The question is, did Barron's desire to display his courage cut his career short with injury?
A couple I would have definitely added and should be if you do a 2nd video: Ozzie Smith's homer off Tom Niedenfuer in the 1985 NLCS, because he wasn't a slugger by any means. Otis Nixon going high and robbing a home run at old Fulton County Stadium, where the walls were much much taller than Nixon was.
I'd like to see a highlight video of very difficult plays that look like routine plays .... that's the sign of a really elite defender. A lot of these plays at the wall are just poorly played balls with acrobatic catches
Pillar wasn't great. His plays looked cool because he was slow. Even Sportsnet did a thing on his reaction and running speed. The reason why he was constantly flying like superman, was because every other CF got to the ball and made those plays routinely, and if he didn't catch the ball, he would've lost his spot, long ago.
Right?!?! If there's any one thing to be expected when Yadi is in the video, it's that he'll be throwing someone out! One of the best catchers to ever play the game without a doubt!! Not many people have done well when running on Yadi!
By the way, Jose Guillens throw from right after the ball bounced off of him is the greatest throw I've ever seen. It's even better than any throw I've seen Bo Jackson make
Smart athletic play by Jeter with the cut-off toss to the plate against Giambi. The slow-mo replay sure looks like it’s a tie with the foot touching the plate at the same time as the tag…this was before replay. With a safe call, Jeter doesn’t get all the accolades for this play.
@@ChirpyMike it kinda is. In 2018 pitchers batted .115/.144/.148 for a -25 wRC+. I just don’t think they should’ve used MadBum, a pitcher that is considered good at hitting for his position, even if he did try to lay down the sac bunt earlier in the AB
I feel like announcers need to be better sometimes, *mundanely* "And he jumps over the tag he'll be safe at home" that should be like "AND A LEAP OF FAITH FOR THE PLATE AND HE'S SAFE!!! OH MY
Pretty sure when they're dead inside like that is because they're broadcasting for the team that just got shit on with that play. It's hard to be passionate and empathetic when one of the craziest moves you've ever seen in your life was done to beat your favourite team. You're telling me that if the white sox did something insane like that against the Tigers that makes tigers lose the game and potentially more like the wildcard spot or even the world series - that you'd be jumping from joy and screaming about it? Almost definitely not. After the game's over and you had time to process the emotions maybe, but not right in that moment, live, the way you expect broadcasters to.
Yeah, about the only time I liked baseball was when Dave Neihouse was calling calling games. “Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma. It’s GRAND SALAMI TIME!”
"Only other players I've seen do [a bare handed catch]"... I'd like to introduce you to every cricket player ever (well, except me, I was pretty rubbish at catching)
Ok so one time I was on first with a right handed pitcher on the mound, so I started to steal when he lifted his leg up but instead of going home with the pitch he twisted and went to third then third threw to second and got me out
My team once tried to do something similar, but with a runner on 2nd that was stealing 3rd. The umpire called a balk, they said you can't pick off to an unoccupied bag. Not sure if that's the rule or not, but I do feel like it should be. That's just kinda silly that you got out there.
That was a balk. The pitcher can't throw to an unoccupied base unless trying to make a play. I'm assuming no one was on second. (And no, expecting the third baseman to throw it on to second is not "making a play".)
Missed a few for the sox. Mark Buerhle off his foot and chased it down then between his legs to Konerko on opening day in 2006 I think. Luis Robert play in centerfield going coast to coast to make a diving catch that was more impressive than pillars.
Hmph. Looks like Giambi was safe, this whole time. Everyone trots out that one clip showing how awesome Jeter was, and in the end the ump just blew the call.
They have done countless replays on this. You can not say it was one way or another definitively. There does seem more who say Posada made the tag a split second before Giambi touched the base...
@@davidtsang4949 And those people would be wrong. If you look at it from the front you can see in the knee that Giambi has landed on the plate before there is any movement whatsoever in the Posada's? glove indicating contact with that leg. It was an amazing attempt by Jeter but the call was wrong.
@@masterbratac7379 You are not going to convince me with that. Until you can transpose when Posada made the tag to when Giambi touches the plate, you can not tell either way definitively. If they had video replay back then, you couldn't overturn the call with those video replays...
I could watch Yadi throw out runners all day, what a machine. also the Jim Edmonds clip and Bo jackson clip never gets old.
Those guys diving at the old Astro Dome are hardcore. Astroturf is one of the most cruel surfaces for players to play on - it was 100% something only used by owners looking to get rid of the lawn care crew. All it did was cause injuries.
Well it was also for indoor stadiums where they couldn’t get proper sunlight for the whole field to grow evenly. But that was an added bonus. Though it turned out to be a pain to maintain anyway, so most stadiums stopped using the stuff in the following builds.
Grass was originally planted in the AstroDome, however, because of the glare from the windows overhead in the outfield, players couldn't see the ball. So the windows were painted opaque, then the grass died. Thus AstroTurf.
@@inflameslp311 ojgt okjgf iuyygffdd [pl
In the early days of astroturf, football players said it was like playing on asphalt.
Guess again. Originally, the stadium's surface was a Tifway 419 Bermuda grass, specifically bred for indoor use. The dome's ceiling contained thousands of semi-transparent panes made of Lucite. Players quickly complained that glare coming off the panes made it hard for them to track fly balls; to solve the problem, two sections of panes were painted white in April. However, within a few months, the grass died from lack of sunlight. For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on green-painted dirt and dead grass. The clear panels also added a problem when combined with the natural grass. The grass tended to hold, then release moisture, often resulting in rain within the structure, causing games to be delayed while the grounds crews cleaned up the playing surface.
These plays are mostly perfect, but the collection of them - that's magnificent. Outstanding compilation. Bravo!
One way to makes plays more spectacular is when commentaries reactions, not just baseball, for all sports as well
Great commentators pretend as if the audience is blind and deaf
@@FGPlus I think you just mean blind.
I'm glad the Iguchi play is on here. I see it on way to few highlight reels. His play was one of the best I've ever seen, especially since he was falling
That a-rod one...no one expected the double steroid pump😂
where was that?
5:08
@HANNAH DARELY GONZALEZ - HERNANDEZ LJJJI 1sty' 9khe2
A-Rod the A-Hole.
So that was actually alex huh
Some of my favorite plays of all time included here... nice compilation.
I’ve watched that Gibson homer 100 times and will watch it 100 more. One of the greatest moments in any game
Kirk Gibson has 2 of the 5 most dramatic homers in MLB history. Add to this one his extraordinary dinger in game 4 of the 1984 World Series.
That Edmonds catch in center will likely always be my favorite catch of all time.... It makes me happy every time I see it...
7:10 sure, that dive over Molina was impressive, but it doesn't count if you don't tag 3rd base on your way home...
It probably was a ground ball into right field
@@garnett_ no not tag UP, just straight up he missed the base by a mile
Looked like he may have touched it with the toe of his left foot before his right swung over the bag and landed past it.
What you really mean it wasn’t impressive because someone outwitted Molina. Has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the runner touched third base. If I were the runner I would’ve rubbed it in Molina’s face.
I saw that and I think you're right. He missed third by a few inches.
That Jim Edmonds catch in KC is the best catch I’ve ever seen. Still can’t believe he came up with that ball. The Buehrle between the legs glove flip needs to be on here!
7:10 - Shades of Willie Mays Hayes flying over Jack Parkman in Major League 2. "I don't intend to slide." LOL! 🤣
As a Cardinals fan & saw Kevin Mitchell did a 1 hand caught on a foul ball by Ozzie Smith sure dropped my jaw big time. 😮. Amazing catch!
Edmonds the greatest catch I have ever seen!
Now a not so good announcer for the Cards. Pretty sure that’s the same guy lmao
it really is the best ever.
the Pillar one that isn't on here and Gary Matthews Jr are 2 and 3 in some order.
Awesome replays
That last one was amazing
How is there only 1 clip of Andruw Jones in all this?! That guy used to make CF catches nobody else could make and he'd make it look easy too!
He is in some other compilations. Go Bravos!
He made the plays look too easy, that's why he was underappreciated.
The same thing with Ryne Sandberg. He made plays that no one else could, yet he made them look so easy and effortless that he was never given the credit he was due as one of the greatest defensive second basemen of all time.
Every highlight vid has to to have Gibson's homer, Bo's wall climbing and Edmonds' diving center field catch. Make it so!
Yadi needs his own highlight reel
With all of his baseball career including minors, World Classic Baseball, MLB. Yadi is the best catcher there is. He once said,
“Respect the rank!” after Cubs’s catcher, Willson Contreras,
loudmouthed claiming he’s better than Yadi.
Wow...Yadier Molina throwing out would-be base stealers and Kevin Pilar making a diving catch! No one would ever expect those things! LOL
That Vin Scully call of Kirk Gibson's is so iconic
That Edmonds catch is one of the greatest of all time
*The
I expect every player to be able to hit a HR, at least once. But the diving plays are 👩🍳💋
2:14 Even after all these years, I still firmly believe that Giambi was safe on that Jeter flip to the catcher…
I didn't see any Omar Vizquel plays in here... but then I guess they were all expected.
starts off with a Catcher catching a BUNT! Good stuff.
Don’t mess with Molina … love him please dont retire.
Video idea: Baseball broadcasters getting the giggles on camera during postseason games.
Merci beaucoup
I love baseballl
1:42 the umpire called safe before he even got close to the bag
Because he has already seen the first baseman miss the tag and could see that he couldn’t get the runner. But yes you are right. He did call it early
@@cindyinnew oh thanks that makes sense
No cynthia, he signaled safe to indicate the initial tag attempt was missed. He was not calling him safe at first base.
@@alanhess9306 oh thanks
I don't really watch baseball, but fell into a youtube hole. That Iguchi play is seriously underrepresented. After hours, I've only seen it here.
Benito Santiago was the originator of throwing out base runners from his knees,people thought he was showing off until he regularly did it.
I saw Brady Clark of the Brewers make a catch at Coors Field that was the #1 play on ESPN that day!
glad you put a Ca angels jim edmonds in there. i have seen some highlights of his plays
Jimmys best days in the outfield were when he was a card.. you should go check out some of those catches
I'm a Giants fan but I used to watch Dodgers games just to hear Vin Scully.
Vin Scully was one of the greatest just like Boston Red Sox's own Jerry Remy
@@Pikachufan2011 totally agree. May I add that Harry Carey and Skip Carey are both legendary in their own right
@@cindyinnew Harry Carey was fun to listen to. He added a lot to the broadcast and was fun to listen to. He was great, in stark contrast to the raving lunatic idiot Hawk Harrelson.
6:26 - Tony Barron lasted maybe six months in the majors, and that's the only thing he is remembered for, but thirty years on people still talk about it. That was Veteran's Stadium, that awful dump. Astroturf as hard as vinyl flooring, with solid concrete underneath. The question is, did Barron's desire to display his courage cut his career short with injury?
A couple I would have definitely added and should be if you do a 2nd video: Ozzie Smith's homer off Tom Niedenfuer in the 1985 NLCS, because he wasn't a slugger by any means. Otis Nixon going high and robbing a home run at old Fulton County Stadium, where the walls were much much taller than Nixon was.
That last play - the throw from the SS as he was stretched out and falling - what the heck?
I'd like to see a highlight video of very difficult plays that look like routine plays .... that's the sign of a really elite defender. A lot of these plays at the wall are just poorly played balls with acrobatic catches
3:12 Castellanos didn’t hit it far enough cause no one talked about something bad or sad
Pillar is a miracle himself. Poor Jays for not having him.
They got springer
@@prohdx4430 Yeah only thing is Springer is always a little "fatigued"
Pillar wasn't great. His plays looked cool because he was slow. Even Sportsnet did a thing on his reaction and running speed. The reason why he was constantly flying like superman, was because every other CF got to the ball and made those plays routinely, and if he didn't catch the ball, he would've lost his spot, long ago.
As a Yankees fan, I can say I very much love that play at 3:19. GG
4:40 poor Griffey broke his wrist on that play :/
The Ben revere one (second play of the video) I’m pretty sure was catch/play of the year for baseball
Helluva play by Jeter, but Giambi was safe.
Bumgardner pumping his fist after hitting a homerun, when he would plunk a guy that did that while he was pitching.
I was at the Iguchi game!!!!! That play was wild
you should do part 2 and have inciarte robbing cespedes’ walk off
Great suggestion
Yadier Molina throwing out a baserunner in a video entitled Plays that nobody expects? Something has gone wrong here.
Right?!?! If there's any one thing to be expected when Yadi is in the video, it's that he'll be throwing someone out! One of the best catchers to ever play the game without a doubt!! Not many people have done well when running on Yadi!
Exactly! That’s what I said when I saw my boy on here
Edmunds catch will never be surpassed…..
By the way, Jose Guillens throw from right after the ball bounced off of him is the greatest throw I've ever seen. It's even better than any throw I've seen Bo Jackson make
Jim Edmonds, Best Catch Ever!!
I might be Dodgers fan but can we agree that bumgarner homer was really cool
Smart athletic play by Jeter with the cut-off toss to the plate against Giambi. The slow-mo replay sure looks like it’s a tie with the foot touching the plate at the same time as the tag…this was before replay. With a safe call, Jeter doesn’t get all the accolades for this play.
Baseball player: Hits home run.
Baseball Sports: UnEXPeTeD MomEnTs
Yeah there were better unexpected homeruns from pitchers. Daniel Norris hit a homer on his first PA since High School. And of course, Bartolo Colon.
@ConnorJ Gaming because a pitcher has never hit a homerun before?
@ConnorJ Gaming I played baseball for 22yrs, I'm well aware.
@ConnorJ Gaming omg....because a pitcher hitting a home run is NOT AN UNEXPECTED MOMENT.
@@ChirpyMike it kinda is. In 2018 pitchers batted .115/.144/.148 for a -25 wRC+. I just don’t think they should’ve used MadBum, a pitcher that is considered good at hitting for his position, even if he did try to lay down the sac bunt earlier in the AB
At 07:09 it sure looked like he missed third. They obviously missed that... 😂 😂 😂
Yeah, the Cardinals should have seen that.
Where is the Bartolo Colon behind the back toss to first base?
Plays that nobody expects, the Spanish Inquisition working as umpires!
Amir Garrett getting somebody out was the most unexpected play in the entire video.
Am I seeing things or did the runner not touch third base on the play where he leaps over Molina?
He didn’t lmao
BEST video so far
I feel like announcers need to be better sometimes, *mundanely* "And he jumps over the tag he'll be safe at home" that should be like "AND A LEAP OF FAITH FOR THE PLATE AND HE'S SAFE!!! OH MY
Pretty sure when they're dead inside like that is because they're broadcasting for the team that just got shit on with that play. It's hard to be passionate and empathetic when one of the craziest moves you've ever seen in your life was done to beat your favourite team.
You're telling me that if the white sox did something insane like that against the Tigers that makes tigers lose the game and potentially more like the wildcard spot or even the world series - that you'd be jumping from joy and screaming about it? Almost definitely not. After the game's over and you had time to process the emotions maybe, but not right in that moment, live, the way you expect broadcasters to.
Yeah, about the only time I liked baseball was when Dave Neihouse was calling calling games. “Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma. It’s GRAND SALAMI TIME!”
@@retro34Evidently you’ve never listened to a GOOD announcer. If you had, you would know that what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense.
🤓
That Derek Jeter play is easily top 3 of all time!
I agree, he should be, I am surprised he is not Hall of Fame yet , I am guessing
@@coreyhill681 he is.
@@matthewdonnelly8260 oh, okay. I did not know that
6:30 holy crap look at him bounce that looks painful
Yeah, he probably felt that the next morning !
Otis Nixon for the Braves, made 2nd best catch ever! Gary Mathews is 1st!
Ruben Sierra cracked that hit to deep center, was at the game, Ken Griffey Junior snagged that and put his body on the line in old Kingdome. #24
I watching watching that game when he made that catch and my first thought was that I was shock that he didn’t crack his neck
You would think Baserunners would know never run when Yadi is catching dude is one of the greatest catchers ever and this is coming from a Red Sox fan
5:29 he did a whole wall run like he was in cod black ops 3 😂
Extraordinary athlete. Wish he could have stayed healthy. What might have been an even more stellar career
Pillar is a human highlight reel.
He’s the goat of laying out for the catch
You got to Alex Gordon in there as well
No question about it
Pillar was slow and so had to lay out on plays most other CF would've made routinely.
And Jones too
7:09 never touched third base…. So close though…
6:30 OUCH!!!! Astro turf hurt!!
No one going to mention the casual wall run at full speed....?
Whoe, you’re right on that one ☝️
Gordon beat Posey's throw.
Bare Handed Catch
"Willie Mays is the only one to have done that"
Omar Visquel "Hold My Beer"
Need a reel of Molina dogging it to first on ground balls.
Literallly 😂 that forehead down run trying to carry that weight is priceless
siempre asiendo jugada buena
Dejected pitcher reaction than you buy your CF a beer if he drinks 3:14
"Only other players I've seen do [a bare handed catch]"...
I'd like to introduce you to every cricket player ever (well, except me, I was pretty rubbish at catching)
Madison bumgarner hitting a home run was not surprising the dude could hit he had 19 career homers.
Great video, but ads every 2 minutes are a bit much on an 8 minute video
sooo we all just gonna skip over the throw from the right field wall at 5:55???? ABSOLUTELY NUTTY
Damn that Washington mutual sign brings back memories.
The Bartolo HR is the most unexpected play in sports history.
Ok so one time I was on first with a right handed pitcher on the mound, so I started to steal when he lifted his leg up but instead of going home with the pitch he twisted and went to third then third threw to second and got me out
My team once tried to do something similar, but with a runner on 2nd that was stealing 3rd. The umpire called a balk, they said you can't pick off to an unoccupied bag. Not sure if that's the rule or not, but I do feel like it should be. That's just kinda silly that you got out there.
That was a balk. The pitcher can't throw to an unoccupied base unless trying to make a play. I'm assuming no one was on second. (And no, expecting the third baseman to throw it on to second is not "making a play".)
Awesome plays.
The Griffey one is always tough to watch as he broke his wrist on it and missed half the season.
Giambi was safe!!
Missed a few for the sox. Mark Buerhle off his foot and chased it down then between his legs to Konerko on opening day in 2006 I think. Luis Robert play in centerfield going coast to coast to make a diving catch that was more impressive than pillars.
you should do a compilation of runners swimming away from tags
Ya had to know Yadi was gonna be in this.
bo was stretching those pants a lotttt holy cow
Every good pickoff clip starts and ends with molina ruining someones day
6:15......why intentional walks should not automatic
When you get Vin Scully to say “wow” you did something special
I love impractical jokers lol
@@origami74 lol
Hmph. Looks like Giambi was safe, this whole time. Everyone trots out that one clip showing how awesome Jeter was, and in the end the ump just blew the call.
It has nothing to do with the call. Jeter had no business being involved in that play but for some reason he was right there. That's whats crazy.
It doesn’t change the fact that jeter was amazing in that play
They have done countless replays on this. You can not say it was one way or another definitively. There does seem more who say Posada made the tag a split second before Giambi touched the base...
@@davidtsang4949 And those people would be wrong. If you look at it from the front you can see in the knee that Giambi has landed on the plate before there is any movement whatsoever in the Posada's? glove indicating contact with that leg. It was an amazing attempt by Jeter but the call was wrong.
@@masterbratac7379 You are not going to convince me with that. Until you can transpose when Posada made the tag to when Giambi touches the plate, you can not tell either way definitively. If they had video replay back then, you couldn't overturn the call with those video replays...
Hey may wanna update this with the Baez play from yesterday
1:48 what is it with Pittsburgh First Basemen and not touching the base?
If you look closely the first baseman touches the base when the runner picks up his hand
@@abullet1179 Yes, after the batter-runner touches first base.
Who was the pirates outfielder who threw the missile from the warning track to 3rd base. I heard the name Wright?
7:09 he really didn't have to flex on Yadi like that thooo
Buen video 👍