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THE BALLPARK — You never know what you’ll see at the ballpark.
As a frequent ballpark attendee, I can confirm this adage. Yet, what happened during a recent matchup between the Columbus Clingstones and Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A affiliates of the Braves and Reds, is something that truly stands out.
The unique moment unfolded with Columbus catcher Chandler Seagle at the dish in the top of the fifth. Seagle’s bat snapped in half as he swung at a 1-0 pitch, hurling both the ball and bat piece toward pitcher Donovan Benoit, who was lucky enough to avoid both.
But he was unlucky enough to witness what happened next.
As you can see in this replay, the ball smacks the barrel again, skipping it past Chattanooga infielder Dominic Pitelli as he loads up to make an inning-ending play. The second hit stunned everyone, including long-time Chattanooga announcer Larry Ward, as he called the play.
“I have never, ever seen that in my 45 years of calling baseball. Holy cats!” he said.
An alternate angle MLB posted better shows the odd moment.
To make things worse for the home team, runners were on the corners with two outs — thus the “double hit” went down as an RBI infield single. It also proved to be a key insurance run in a 6-4 victory for the road team.
There is no word yet on whether Seagle has purchased a lottery ticket since this, but with that kind of luck, I like his winning odds.
