WATCH: Contreras fouls ball into umpire's pocket |
Foul tips deflected directly back at the home-plate umpire typically inflict some damage to the unfortunate moderator behind the plate. However, with Chicago Cubs catcher
Willson Contreras at the plate in the Cubs' matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, a foul tip made a rather soft landing. Symbolic because of the mutual understanding between catchers and umpires regarding how bad it can be to take the brunt of a foul tip, the fact that a foul tip off the bat of a catcher managed to make the softest possible contact with the home-plate umpire is fairly remarkable.
Contreras' at-bat in the bottom of the ninth saw him foul off a pitch that caromed off the shoulder of the catcher and then traveled directly into the home-plate umpire's coat pocket. Unfazed and assuredly very happy that he was not drilled by the ricocheting baseball, the umpire simply removed the baseball from his pocket, handed it to the catcher and allowed play to continue uninterrupted. Willson Contreras totally meant to foul this ball INTO the umpire's pocket. pic.twitter.com/BLwYlf22lP
