More often than not, Major League Baseball players are the best players on the planet. Every now and again, though, we’ll see something on a Major League diamond that resembles what we might see on T-Ball fields. That was the case for Kansas City Royals pitcher Dylan Coleman on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels.
Angels left fielder Brandon Marsh led the top of the seventh inning off with a triple, bringing Andrew Velazquez to the plate in an RBI situation. With the Royals already trailing 2-0, Coleman needed to not only retire Velazquez but to do so with a non-productive out. He seemed to get that when Velazquez hit a slow roller back to Coleman, who fielded the ball in front of the mound. Then, we got a classic blooper.
With Velazquez’s speed, Coleman had to hurry. So, Coleman picked the ball up and threw it underhand to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn — or at least in O’Hearn’s general direction. Coleman’s throw sailed well over O’Hearn’s head, nearly landing in the outfield grass. The errant throw not only allowed Marsh to score easily but also enabled Velazquez to finish on third base.
The hilarious blooper drew a strong reaction from several within the MLB world.
The bottom of the AL Central is looking…yeah. https://t.co/tSxXqY9ySE
— Andrew Hammond (@ahammALDC) July 27, 2022
That's good Royaling right there. https://t.co/HIIX0MdehO
— The Raptured Ned (@TheFakeNed) July 27, 2022
In fact, observers weren’t the only ones making funny comments.
The play was so bad that even Coleman himself couldn’t resist the opportunity to self-troll.
The play likely didn’t have much impact on the final outcome. The Royals lost 4-0 but were already trailing 2-0. Shohei Ohtani singled Velazquez in for the fourth and final run of the game. So, more likely than not, this just made what was already going to be a loss just a shade worse.
That had to make it a little easier for Coleman to have a sense of humor about his gaffe. And if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at. And watching this play, it’s pretty easy to laugh.