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Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Thu Jul 08 07:17am EDT

Mike Stanton homer reaches bullpen, lands in catcher's mitt!

By David Brown

Florida Marlins rookie slugger Mike Stanton(notes) seems to hit home runs not only with prodigious power, but also impeccable aim.

In front of many friends and family at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night, the hometown kid launched a towering three-run homer against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda(notes) that landed — generally — in the home team's bullpen.

More precisely, the ball landed inside a catcher's mitt that was resting atop an open equipment bag a few feet beyond the bullpen gate.

Watch closely

Dodgers outfielder Garret Anderson(notes) can be seen tracking the flight of the ball — he kind of wanders, actually — and then gives up after he realizes it's a lost cause. But Anderson, no doubt ever-observant over a long MLB career, saw the ball drop right into the mitt.

And did he give a double-take for the ages.

It might be the first time Anderson was recorded reacting to anything on a baseball field, actually. (He's kind of mild-mannered.) Anyway, Dodgers voice Vin Scully had the perfect words to go with Stanton's perfect placement.

"It was a great catch, though the glove was not on anybody's hand," Scully said. "Anderson couldn't believe it and the Dodgers finally retrieve it."

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald referenced in his game story how Stanton's fourth career homer landed, but he did not publish a reaction from Stanton about how it found the mitt.

Mostly, Stanton was happy to help Josh Johnson(notes) and the Fish leave town with a 4-0 victory.

Via the Herald:

Stanton, who turns 21 in November, said he "had fun all three nights" playing in the park where he watched his very first big league game.

"That's what you dream about, hitting home runs in your favorite MLB team's park,'' Stanton said. "It's just overwhelming."

So is Stanton's precision.

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Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave

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