What was Giancarlo Stanton doing with this broken bat?
For players, baseball can be a game of opposites. Players are told to stay loose, but they need to concentrate hard and have laser focus. It can be hard to meld the two together, and sometimes one overtakes the other. Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton had one of those moments on Thursday, and it looked pretty weird.
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In the fourth inning of the Marlins’ game against the Washington Nationals, Stanton was at the plate, leaning in against Gio Gonzalez. On the 3-1 pitch, Stanton did a check swing, but ended up hitting the ball. The bat shattered, the ball rolled toward the left side of the infield, and Stanton ran out the grounder and was out at first base. The weird thing? He carried the end of the broken bat with him the entire time. He kept it with him all the way up the first base line, onto the base, and then into the dugout.
Now Stanton was pretty miffed at himself for the result of that at-bat. (He hit the ball on a check swing on a 3-1 pitch, so he’s right to be annoyed.) He even did a little “I’m so very annoyed at myself” jump dance after he ran it out.
While he was still holding the bat! So what exactly happened here with Stanton and the bat? I submit four possibilities.
He has an infestation of bats at his home, and wanted to keep the broken bat as a weapon to wield against them.
He wanted to pretend he was a giant carrying a small bat.
He realized he’d started a new dance craze called the Bat Jump.
He was concentrating so hard that he forgot to drop the end of the broken bat.
Okay, so not all of them are equally likely. He definitely looked like a giant man carrying a tiny bat, but that probably wasn’t his intention. (Though he should definitely pose for a series of pictures where he’s holding and using tiny things. Who wouldn’t want to watch a “Giancarlo the Giant” video series that’s just Stanton trying to drink out of a small glass or use a small bat or sit in a tiny chair?) Considering how annoyed he was with himself after that at-bat, he probably didn’t want to turn any part of that into a dance craze, though he should strongly reconsider. And if his home is being invaded by bats, he’s better off calling animal control or an exterminator or possibly an exorcist.
So in the end, he was probably just concentrating so hard that he forgot to drop the bat. But seriously, The Mighty Giancarlo Stanton posing with tiny books or trying to get into a tiny car? That’s gold. Call me, Giancarlo!
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
