06/03/26 01:24:00
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06/03 01:22 CDT Angels outfielder Jo Adell misplays flyball into home run off
his head, much like Canseco in 1993
Angels outfielder Jo Adell misplays flyball into home run off his head, much
like Canseco in 1993
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) --- Earlier this season, Los Angeles Angels right fielder
Jo Adell had an incredible night to remember on defense, when he robbed the
Seattle Mariners of three home runs.
This time, he was on the wrong end of a play to forget.
Adell misplayed a flyball into a bizarre home run off his head Tuesday, a
fielding blunder reminiscent of Jos Canseco's embarrassing gaffe 33 years ago
with the Texas Rangers.
Adell reached up to catch TJ Rumfield's deep fly for the Colorado Rockies in
the fourth inning, but the ball grazed the outside of his glove before bouncing
off his head and over the wall for a solo homer.
"I was toward the line and I felt like I had a little bit longer way to go than
I normally do on a route like that and just missed it," Adell told MLB.com. "It
hit off my hat. I don't know if I overran it and took a step over. But it was
kind of the icing on the cake because I was (bad) all the way around the whole
day today."
There was brief confusion on the field when the ball caromed off a digital
scoreboard above the fence and back into the outfield. Rumfield stopped at
second base, initially unsure of the ruling, before proceeding around the bases
to give Colorado an 8-0 lead on the way to an 8-2 victory.
"It's one of those things where how it happened looks crazy," said Adell, who
also went 0 for 4 at the plate with two strikeouts. "It looks like I've never
played in the field before, which is disappointing, because it's beyond the
truth. But it is what it is. I'm the only one that really knows what happened.
I was out there, and it happened to me, so it is what it is. I've got to just
keep going, and as a team, we've got to keep going."
It was similar to an infamous play on May 26, 1993, when Canseco lost track of
a long drive hit by Cleveland's Carlos Martnez. The ball bounced off Canseco's
head and over the right-field wall for a home run.
Rumfield's gift homer ended the night for Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who
gave up three homers and eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.
The play also stood in stark contrast to some of Adell's fielding exploits this
season, including that April game in which he stole three would-be homers from
the Mariners --- including one in the ninth inning --- to preserve a 1-0
victory for the Angels.
After that one, former Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter, now a special
assistant to the general manager for the Angels, said Adell had "probably the
greatest defensive game I've ever seen."
"He robbed three homers in one night this year, so it's baseball, and it's a
crazy game," Rodriguez said. "Things happen. Obviously, he didn't do that on
purpose. All you can do is really just move on."
Adell struggled at times with fielding early in his major league career,
including a play during the 2020 season when a deep drive by Rangers outfielder
Nick Solak bounced out of Adell's glove for what was ruled a rare four-base
error. But Adell has had far more fielding highlights than lowlights since, and
he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2024.
"Jo's made great strides defensively from when I played with him," Angels
manager Kurt Suzuki said. "And obviously, he had the night he robbed three home
runs. So I look back at the strides that he's made defensively. It was a tough
play tonight, but at the same time, the strides that he's made defensively have
been great."
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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