This Triple A Game Featured Two of the Weirdest Putouts You’ll Ever See

The visiting Salt Lake City Bees beat the Tacoma Rainiers 2–1 on a chilly, drizzly Sunday in Washington State. The official attendance was listed as 6,778, which would be more than the stadium’s listed capacity, although it appeared to be a sparse crowd. The fans, though, however many of them there were, were treated to some pretty spectacularly bizarre baseball.
First, in the seventh inning, the Bees’ David Fletcher attempted to take home on a first-and-third situation. Fletcher wasn’t tagged but he didn’t touch the plate either, so he had to come running back toward the plate and was finally tagged out by catcher Mike Marjama.
As funny as the visual of Fletcher dashing back into the camera frame is, it’s nowhere near as absurd as what Eric Young Jr. did to lead off the ninth. Young grounded out softly to first base and rather than submit to Gordon Beckham’s tag, he put it in reverse and jogged backwards back toward home.
Baseball can be so delightfully wacky sometimes.

Dan Gartland writes Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, and is the host of the “Stadium Wonders” video series. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).