Every once in awhile, you'll see an outfielder make a diving catch. After oohing and aahing, you'll sometimes say to yourself, "that was nice — but did he really have to dive?"
That's kind of how I felt after seeing Josh Reddick of the A's scale the Rogers Centre wall to make a catch during Oakland's 16-0 mashing of Toronto on Wednesday night. The leap onto the chain link was nice, sure, but Reddick could have caught Travis Snider's drive just as easily if he had done a traditional jump and reach from the warning track.
But Reddick, perhaps sensing the presence of cynics like me, had an explanation.
(US Presswire)From MLB.com:
"Yeah, I knew where I was on the field, saw the fenced area behind me, and that's where the ball was projecting to go," Reddick said. "I felt like it had a chance to get out, but I jumped early to kind of get a heads up, and I heard [relief pitcher Jerry] Blevins back there the whole way, supporting me and telling me I got it. It all happened so fast. You just go with it and it works out.
"I wasn't trying to get cool points. I was just trying to make the catch."
OK, so Reddick was being safe rather than sorry. I can buy that. And like those unnecessary diving catches, I still derived my fair share of entertainment. So kudos.
Still, I'm not going to go ahead and christen Reddick's feat as better than this Spider-Man catch in Japan. Or this one, either.
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