What’s the greatest defensive play in baseball history? What’s the one singular play that combines defensive wizardry, a refutation of all earthly physics and eventually ended up playing in our minds on repeat?
Well, now you’ve got your chance to vote and make one the GOAT, one that will forever stand out above the rest. Some of these plays came in the postseason and helped determine that year’s World Series winner, and some of these plays came during the glorious marathon that is the regular season. It will be up to you to decide if the greater postseason implications make certain plays greater than others.
Also, you’ll notice that all of these plays have video with them, meaning that we won’t be seeing any of Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance double plays listed below. While we’re sure there were some amazing defensive gems performed in the early 1900s when players wore heavy wool uniforms and had to farm in their free time, unfortunately a newspaper description just doesn’t match the glory of the camera’s eye.
With that out of the way, let’s break down the first-round matchups in the GREATEST. PLAY. EVER. Bracket Sweepstakes Presented by Pixel Vault. Then make sure you head over here to cast your vote.
Matchup 1: Mike Trout vs. Gary Matthews Jr.
The most iconic play from one of the most iconic players to ever step on the field, so how could we not include it? Facing the Orioles in 2012, Trout raced back and leaped high above the Camden Yards wall to take a home run away from J.J. Hardy. Hardy may have been disappointed to lose his dinger, but the O’s shortstop won three Gold Gloves in his career, so he knows a thing or two about giving it up for defense.
To advance, Trout will have to beat perhaps the wildest home run robbery ever captured on video. On July 1, 2006, Angels outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. sprinted back to the wall to make a no-look home run robbery against Mike Lamb. Yes, somehow, Matthews made this grab with his back to home plate.
Matchup 2: Dewayne Wise vs. Endy Chavez
Mark Buehrle will always wake up in the morning and thank Dewayne Wise first. With just three outs separating Buehrle from a perfect game, then-Rays outfielder Gabe Kapler hit a blast to left-center field. With everyone’s breath caught in their throat, Wise tracked it down, timed his leap just right and saved the perfecto.
Endy Chavez very nearly saved the Mets’ season with his own grab. With the Cardinals and Mets tied at one in the top of the sixth inning during Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen launched a rocket to left field. Chavez jumped and used every inch of his 5-foot-11 frame to make the catch. Unfortunately for Chavez, the Mets would lose the game, perhaps keeping this play from reaching all-time GOAT status.
Matchup 3: Willie Mays vs. Derek Jeter
This matchup is so strong, it could have been the final and no one would have complained. After all, we have two moments that are both known by their name: The Catch and The Flip.
Willie Mays’ over-the-head basket catch against Cleveland in the 1954 World Series has reached mythic status, with an annual celebration to remember it every Sept. 29.
Meanwhile, Jeter’s Flip was a piece of baseball improvisation that could only come from a player who has stopped thinking about the game and is simply feeling it in his bones. As the A’s Jeremy Giambi raced around the bases, Jeter left his usual position to back up the throw on the infield. When the ball landed in his glove, he quickly shoveled it to the plate to nail Giambi.
Matchup 4: Bo Jackson vs. Ozzie Smith
Here we’ve got the genetic freaks, the players who were seemingly built in a lab — though the two couldn’t look more different. In one corner, we’ve got Bo Jackson, the two-sport star whose muscles seemingly had muscles. He used all that strength on this play when he grabbed the ball in left field and hurled a thunderbolt to home plate to nab the speedy Harold Reynolds in a bang-bang play.
Smith’s moment came just 10 games into his big league career — and involved the fastest of reflexes. Running to his left to rob Jeff Burroughs of a single, Smith had already started to go into a dive. The ball then took a bad hop and leapt up and back to Smith’s right. With no option, Smith barehanded the ball before quickly standing and throwing to first. The player known as “The Wizard” calls this his best play ever, so who are we to disagree?
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