Baseball world reacts to very strange play in minor-league game

The sport of baseball can always produce a moment so odd that even people who have watched thousands of games have never seen anything quite like it. That was the case in Wednesday’s minor-league game between the Toledo Mud Hens and Columbus Clippers, Triple-A affiliates of the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians, respectively.

In the second inning, Columbus third baseman Ernie Clement grounded out to the catcher. In the scorebook, it’s a routine play. But it happened in a pretty unusual manner.

Several in the MLB world commented on the absolute rarity of the play.

We can make the obvious joke about how fitting it was that the Mud Hens were playing in this game. But in actuality, this game was in Columbus. Unsurprisingly, the game was also delayed at the beginning by rain. The Columbus grounds crew should have either watered less in front of home plate or been a little quicker getting the tarp on the field.

Or, perhaps the Clippers just wanted to be absolutely sure that the Mud Hens felt right at home. If that’s the case, we can applaud them for being hospitable hosts.

Whatever the reason that this area was so muddy, this pile of mud provided a moment that fans of baseball hadn’t seen before — and likely won’t see again any time soon.

[Minor League Baseball]