Vegas Has To Be Thrilled That Oakland A's Baseball Is Coming To Town After Watching This Incredible Defense In The Field

I wouldn’t say I like kicking teams when they’re down. I know Oakland A’s fans have been going through it this season. The team is historically awful, and pretty darn soon, they’re going to move to Vegas. We’ve known from the get-go how bad they are, so it’s kind of meaningless to point and laugh. That said, I have to make an exception for this play. 

For the love of all that is holy, what the fuck happened in this play? This is one of the most bizarre fucking plays that ever seen in my life. First, an A's/Nationals series in the middle of August might be the saddest baseball series I have ever seen. I know Washington has a good fanbase, but is anyone going to this shit? I'm not begrudging anyone who did. I should be the last to criticize people for following their team through thick and thin. But if any upside comes from this play, I don't think many people were in the ballpark to watch it. But I am fascinated by this. This is the most ridiculous blunder I've seen in baseball since the Pittsburgh Pirates forgot that all you had to do was touch first base to record it out a few years back. 

(I think this play was the moment the Tigers decided they wanted to sign Javier Baez. I'll never forgive the Pirates for that. Anyway, back to the A's)

With most errors, I can sympathize with the player. Nobody wants to make an error. But sometimes, you short-arm a throw or overshoot a cutoff man. It sucks to see as a fan, but it does happen. What makes this particular play so fascinating is that, by definition, this is not an error. It probably goes into the book as a single. The pitcher fielded it cleanly and just never got rid of the ball. You do have to give Vargas credit. He did hustle down the first baseline.  But I can only praise him so much. I would like to know the mindset here. I guess the pitcher didn't think Vargas was going hard on the first baseline. But dude, just toss the ball to the first baseman, and it's an out. I'd lose my mind if I saw this shit in little league.

As somebody who is a fan of a lousy team, these are the moments that make you want to abandon hope. A lot of teams just aren't very talented, and they have hitters that are going chase pitches and pitchers that can't throw strikes, but these are the kind of things you can control. A twelve-year-old would get benched for not making this play. It's sad, it's depressing, but as an outsider, it's very funny.