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SALT LAKE CITY — Three more stories from the whacky world of sports in today’s From Left Field.
1. Jazz fans get creative in venting Hayward frustrations
The Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics may not have a regular season or postseason rivalry (outside of the movie “Celtic Pride”), but with annual matchups in the Utah Jazz summer league, they’ve developed something there.
With Utah’s All-Star forward Gordon Hayward signing with Boston earlier in the week, Thursday’s matchup with Utah at the Huntsman Center allowed Jazz fans to vent their frustrations about Hayward’s departure as they played the team he’s going to.
Those who didn’t burn their Hayward jerseys (or donate them to charity), found creative ways to show their displeasure over his decision.
— Melissa Ellsworth (@mellsworth86) July 7, 2017
There’s an adage in baseball that you will see something new at the ballpark every game you attend. That surely was the case in an intrastate matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday.
In the bottom of the third inning, Philadelphia infielder Andres Blanco let go of the bat during his swing and it went flying into the stands. However, at the same time, Pittsburgh catcher Elias Diaz attempted to pick off Philadelphia’s Andrew Knapp, who was far off the first base bag.
However, Pittsburgh first baseman Josh Bell was distracted by the flying bat and didn’t see the pickoff attempt and it sailed right by him and down the right field line. This allowed Knapp to run freely around the bases and all the way to home.
3. Hitter turns routine infield pop-up into triple
It has been said that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and Randy Arozarena got pretty lucky Thursday night.
The outfielder hit what should have been a routine infield pop-up to open the seventh inning in a game where the Springfield Cardinals were trailing 1-0. That then turned into chaos when Midland first baseman Viosergy Rosa — and the rest of the RockHounds’ infield for that matter — let the ball drop.
Arozarena jogged his way to second base knowing that he was likely out anyway, but after the ball hit the ground, he instinctively realized nobody was covering third, so he sprinted there for a leadoff triple. The scorekeeper later charged Rosa with the three-base error, so technically it wasn’t a triple.
Here’s the insane play.
It’s amazing how a game can change so quickly with just one opportunity and a heads-up play.
