I have coached high school baseball now for the better part of 10 years. Though not as long as other coaches, I feel like I have witnessed just about anything that can happen on the field. This season, though, has presented a multitude of situations that are...for lack of a better word...very weird.
I had never seen a triple play in high school until I saw Andrew Steck's unfortunate incident with my own two eyes. I am sure you can remember his bunt attempt gone wrong. Today, the kids, and the coaches don't let him live it down. It is comical and he takes the ribbing very well.
Also, I have never seen a kid throw a legitimate no-hitter in a losing effort. Nick Milligan did that against Moline. A couple of walks and a balk lead to the only run of the game. He deserved better, but has a great story to, one day, tell his kids.
Coltan Crain is involved in two of weirdest events I have witnessed in high school baseball. First, while on a team trip to Wrigley Field, Coltan was hit while in the stands with a baseball by a Reds reliever while he was warming up. The pitcher was a good sport as he signed the ball while Coltan was getting checked out by Wrigley medical personnel. Coltan was fine, of course, which is why we all laugh at the situation.
Then tonight, Coltan tried to pick a runner off of second. In one of the weirdest plays I have ever seen, the runner caught his pickoff attempt while on the base and threw it back to him! Both Coach Bainter and I looked at each other in disbelief. His kid said it was just a reflex that he caught the ball and then didn't know what to do except to throw it back to the pitcher. Funny stuff!
Anyway, for those of you that have witnessed these things too...or for those just reading about them now, I want to know which of these events do you think is the weirdest of all. This is just for fun and it gives me a chance to hear from you a little bit. Go to the poll on the right hand side of the page and enter your choice as the weirdest event. The site will tally your results for me and I will post them when the poll times out. This one will be over Friday at 11:59 p.m. We will see how this one goes and there may be polls posted in the future if this one is successful.
Go Streaks!
