Hartford Yard Goats batter’s weird strikeout shows the danger of a casual approach
Hartford Yard Goats third baseman Josh Fuentes now knows better than to joke inside the batter’s box.
During the eighth inning of a one-run game Friday between the Yard Goats and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (a truly great matchup of minor league baseball names), pitcher Cory Burns slipped during his delivery and lightly tossed the ball onto the infield grass, rolling toward the first baseline.
Fuentes, who was batting, “jokingly”, took an indifferent swing at the botched pitch, according to broadcast footage of the incident, which was first spotted by Deadspin. Unfortunately, it was a 1-2 count. And Fuentes’s swing was strike three.
And now: an incredibly weird minor league strikeout https://t.co/3LhOQkpDck pic.twitter.com/N44nZuCBq5
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 27, 2017
The Yard Goats went on to lose the game, 5-4, and Fuentes’s strikeout was soon mocked by baseball fans on social media, SportsCenter, and even his team’s own Twitter account.
Oops 🙈 https://t.co/Y6Vd3pcNEc
— Hartford Yard Goats (@GoYardGoats) May 27, 2017
Now the butt of his own attempted joke, Fuentes did at least take in it stride.
https://twitter.com/jfuent19/status/868666860912484352
In response to a Twitter user who pointed out the potential danger of taking practice swings in the batter’s box, he replied, “Must have missed that meeting.”
We can only hope Fuentes redeems himself in the Yard Goats’ upcoming games against Richmond Flying Squirrels.
