![\"\"](\"https:\/\/candas365.es\/noticias\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/baseball-1425124_640-360x239.jpg\")
Chicago (tca\/dpa) \u2014 Almost 24 hours after the hide-and-seek viewed around the world, everyone was still talking about Javier B\u00e1ez\u2019s once-in-a-lifetime play.<\/p>\nChicago (tca\/dpa) \u2014 Almost 24 hours after the hide-and-seek viewed around the world, everyone was still talking about Javier B\u00e1ez\u2019s once-in-a-lifetime play.<\/p>\n
Well, everyone but Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Will Craig, who played the role of Wile E. Coyote to B\u00e1ez\u2019s Road Runner in the Chicago Cubs\u2019 5-3 win at PNC Park.<\/p>\n
Craig was unavailable to speak with reporters after Thursday\u2019s game, so we don\u2019t know how he feels about being outsmarted and apparently not knowing the rules of the game. All Craig had to do was go back to first and touch the base as B\u00e1ez was retreating to record the final out and negate Willson Contreras\u2019s run.<\/p>\n
But Craig seemingly was confused in the heat of the moment, making himself a part of baseball infamy like Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca after giving up Bobby Thomson\u2019s \u201cShot Heard \u2018Round the World\u201d at the Polo Grounds in 1951, or Cubs fan Steve Bartman grasping for the foul ball at Wrigley Field during the 2003 National League Championship Series.<\/p>\n
Articles and comments about the play were all over, and it even earned a mention on Thursday night\u2019s White Sox telecast. It made morning new shows such as \u201cGood Morning America,\u201d where a national audience witnessed Javy being Javy.<\/p>\n
Pirates manager Derek Shelton took the blame for Craig, who was playing in only his 15th major league game, though he had played 456 games in the minors since being drafted out of Wake Forest in the first round in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bag hasn\u2019t moved in 140 years,\u201d Shelton said on a postgame Zoom. \u201cOur guys have got to know the rules. That\u2019s my fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pirates\u2019 players and dugout also failed to yell at Craig to remind him to just go step on first, as pitcher Tyler Anderson conceded while also taking some of the blame. That\u2019s a communication breakdown that seems more commonplace in this era.<\/p>\n
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks said it was a play you never will see again, because now that every player has seen it they\u2019ll know not to be like Craig. That\u2019s what makes the B\u00e1ez deke so special. You watch baseball your whole life waiting to see something you\u2019ve never seen before … and there it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazing,\u201d longtime Cubs radio voice Pat Hughes said before Friday\u2019s game with the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the mystery and the fascination of the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd a guy like B\u00e1ez is almost on a different level from any player I have ever seen. It\u2019s as if his mind works a split-second ahead of everyone else and he sees things before they happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything even close to that. Of all the amazing plays he\u2019s made, and there have been a lot of them, that one had to take the cake. To literally create a run, and eventually two runs, out of absolutely nothing is phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two other factors ensured the moment would be remembered forever \u2014 the first being Marquee Sports\u2019 Jim Deshaies\u2019 unbridled exuberance as the play unfolded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is so good,\u201d Deshaies said in a low-key tone as B\u00e1ez retreated, giving us a hint of what was to come from years of watching B\u00e1ez do his thing. When Contreras drew the throw to the plate and B\u00e1ez ruled him safe before running to the open base, Deshaies\u2019 voice rose dramatically: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, after watching B\u00e1ez reach second on the throwing error and the ball get away once again, Deshaies sounded like a Little League dad shouting to his kid from the stands instead of an announcer watching from a monitor in a TV booth in Wrigley Field: \u201cKeep going. Go. Go. Go. … Think you\u2019re invisible.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Cubs fans who\u2019ve missed the unapologetic, emotional, rollercoaster-style analysis of late radio broadcaster Ron Santo \u2014 who turned \u201cOh, no!\u201d into a catchphrase in 1998 when Cubs outfielder Brant Brown dropped a fly ball in the ninth inning of an epic loss in Milwaukee during the heat of a pennant race \u2014 Deshaies\u2019 call was a welcome blast from the past.<\/p>\n
But the moment that really put an exclamation mark on the play was the sight of first baseman Anthony Rizzo doubled over laughing while hanging on the railing of the dugout. When he came into the final year of his Cubs contract unsigned, Rizzo promised he was going to enjoy himself this year no matter what happens. Clearly he has lived up to those words.<\/p>\n
Baseball can make you happy, angry, sad or bored. It seldom makes you laugh out loud like you did while watching the play unfold. This was one of the made-for-emoji moments in which Rizzo and the entire Cubs dugout reacted the same way as everyone else watching on TV.<\/p>\n
And the good news for fans is B\u00e1ez is still in a Cubs uniform, at least for now.<\/p>\n
So what will he do next? Stay tuned.<\/p>\n
Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chicago (tca\/dpa) \u2014 Almost 24 hours after the hide-and-seek viewed around the world, everyone was still talking about Javier B\u00e1ez\u2019s once-in-a-lifetime play. Well, everyone but Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Will Craig, who played the role of Wile E. Coyote to B\u00e1ez\u2019s Road Runner in the Chicago Cubs\u2019 5-3 win at PNC Park. Craig was unavailable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155160,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-155159","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-actualidad"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t