Table of Content
Baseball fans primarily think of Kenny Lofton as a pesky leadoff hitter who terrorized teams on the basepaths. In his first five full major-league seasons, from 1992 to 1997, he led the American League each year in steals, averaging 65 per year. He finished his 17-season career in 2007 with 622 stolen bases, as of 2022 the 15th-most in major-league history and trailing only Vince Coleman among players who debuted in 1980 or later. Brian Downing started the bottom half with an infield single to shortstop and was balked to second.
In this particular case, Lofton chases the ball down to the wall, steps on the wall to push himself up and then reaches over the fence to make an epic catch. Kenny Lofton might easily be one of the most underrated fielders of all time. The man had tremendous speed and took home four Gold Gloves in his 17-season career. This catch occurred against the always-pesky Los Angeles Angels, whose short porches in left field provide some great home runs but also just ask for home run robbery. In his prime, besides being a great fielder, Andruw Jones was also a fine power hitter who could be counted on for home runs a year. In this particular case, Jones thought he had a grand slam in the bag.
#THIS: Trout scales the wall and takes away homer
In the at-bat, second baseman Howie Kendrick launched a drive to centerfield that Gutierrez just tracked down perfectly. He ran to the wall, did a little bunny hop so his arm could get over the fence and pulled the ball in with ease. Nothing pumps up baseball fans more than an epic catch. It could be a diving catch, one over the shoulder or one on the run that is just plain awesome. 15 It was his sixth save of the season. He finished with a career-high 29 saves before dying in a tragic boating accident in spring training the following year along with teammate Tim Crews.
After Campbell pitched a perfect seventh, Texas rallied. Sierra lined a triple on a full-count pitch and scored on Kevin Reimer’s single to right. Palmer reached on third baseman Jacoby’s error to put two on with no outs.
[email protected]: Maybin makes a fine sliding grab
Downing followed with a single to score Thon. Cleveland right-hander Mike Christopher12 relieved Nichols and ended the threat by getting Palmeiro to fly to shallow right and striking out Gonzalez. An inning later, Pavlik allowed singles to Junior Ortiz and Lofton before Lewis smacked a one-out single to score Ortiz and tie the game.
It's not fancy, but still a showcase of great athleticism. It isn't a fancy catch, but sometimes less is more. Thus, it is the perfect one to kick off the countdown.
[email protected]: Frazier robs Mancini with a fine diving grab
They finished fourth in the AL West, 19 games behind the first-place Oakland A’s. In the fifth with one out, Whiten doubled to right and advanced to third on Sorrento’s grounder to first. Ortiz bounced a single into left to score Whiten and put Cleveland up 5-4. Staked to an early lead, Pavlik continued to struggle with his control. In the third he walked Lewis, who was forced at second on Baerga’s grounder to short.
Though the ball in the picture to the left may have escaped him, Seattle Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutierrez has become a whiz at home run robbery. The catch of his that I've chosen to showcase occurred during the 2010 season against the Los Angeles Angels. With Nate Schierholtz at the plate, Cameron followed the hitter's drive to centerfield and just reached over the wall to pull it down. Though some fans may know him now for his rapid decline, there was a time when Andruw Jones was easily the best centerfielder in the game. 8 This was Campbell’s first career relief appearance and his first major-league action since he started for the Seattle Mariners on April 26, 1989. This would be his only game of the 1992 season.
With two outs, Pavlik issued a free pass to Whitten and uncorked a wild pitch to move both runners up. Sorrento lined a two-run single to center to bring the Indians within 4-3. With a crowd of 19,573 on hand on a Thursday night, Texas entered at 16-14, in third place in the AL West Division, 1½ games behind the Chicago White Sox.
Texas manager Bobby Valentine lifted Pavlik for reliever Mike Campbell,8 who closed out the inning with no further damage. He has a partition to hang onto while he makes the catch, but still—the athleticism just to get that high on the wall is incredible. Chavez put his back to the wall and not only did he make a great leaping catch, but he managed to double-up on the runner at first.
The man had speed, unbelievable power to all fields and on top of that, he played football during the offseason. This particular catch occurred at Shea Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals. Outfielder Ryan Ludwick launched a drive to centerfield and Beltran showed some NBA-like moves with his jump and the turnaround following the catch.
He struggled at the plate early on and was dropped to ninth after batting .214 in his first 20 games. But Lofton also had some pop in his bat. He belted 130 career home runs—119 from the leadoff spot—while reaching double figures in seven seasons.
If the Seattle Mariners want to start contending again, Trayvon Robinson may be the key to future success. The kid has it all in speed, ability to hit and also plays great defense. 14 After starting just 12 times in 286 appearances from 1989 through 1992, Rogers transformed into a starter. Beginning in 1993, he started 462 of his last 476 appearances. At the end of season, Palmeiro’s prediction was unfulfilled—the Rangers finished on the road, but just at home.
