The Little League Home Run Bunt Is The Most Electric Play In Baseball

A battle of two division leaders. A potential playoff showdown. An eighth inning, lead off bunt, in a one run game to instantly open the flood gates and ultimately secure the win for the Philadelphia Phillies. Tom Emanski must be rolling over in his bed after having nightmares of plays exactly like this. Where were the fundamentals, boys??? Just a completely and utter break down of standard defense.

César Hernandez laid down a decent bunt, nothing too fancy nothing terrible, either. Jake Diekman scooped up said bunt and, instead of securing the out at first, proceeded to launch it into right field. Now, if Steven Souza Jr. had been backing up the play with a little more pep in his step, Hernandez probably holds up at second. A tough error but a salvageable situation. Well, buddy, that’s not what happened. That’s not what happened at all. Souza scurries over to collect this bank shot off the right field barrier and elects to go full send. I’d argue this five seconds of attempted fielding by Souza is a more outrageous and lackadaisical display than anything Manny pulled while he was patrolling the outfield. Because for Souza to not back up the play is one thing – lapses happen, relatively routine plays get overlooked, etc. But to get to the ball, turn and fire in one fell swoop amidst some wild fever dream that he had a shot at getting Hernandez at third is truly the icing on this turd soufflé. Soufflé doesn’t even require icing, but this one was so spectacular they threw it on there for shits and giggles, completely risking the delicate innards which could collapse at a moment’s notice. Perhaps this was nothing more than a simple viral marketing stunt to prep people for the Little League World Series. Yeah, that’s what Souza and Diekman should go with. Viral marketing stunt.