We already know that Adrian Beltre has a tremendous sense of humor, as demonstrated by how he’s reacted over the years to teammates and colleagues rubbing his head. The Rangers third baseman again displayed his (un)willingness to laugh at himself after spinning himself to the ground on a swing-and-miss at an Evan Scribner curveball.
Swinging so hard that he drops to a knee is something we’ve seen from Beltre before. It’s kind of amazing that he hits as well as he does when going all-out after certain pitches like that. However, when Beltre connects, the result is difficult to argue with. His Rangers teammates laughed and poked fun when Beltre corkscrewed himself into a fall. But he got the last laugh on the next pitch.
You can almost hear Beltre say, “Throw that pitch again, Meat.” Well, maybe not, but he seemed to be thinking it. And Scribner was apparently thinking that if Beltre looked that foolish on a curveball, why not just throw another one? Oops. Throwing the same pitch just gave Beltre a chance to time his swing right. He then jacked the ball out to left-center for a home run, expanding the Texas lead to 9-0.
No one seemed to be laughing about that corkscrew spin after Beltre rounded the bases. And if you watch the play again, look how low Beltre has to reach for the ball — far out of the strike zone — yet still has enough strength to lift the ball out of the park. He still makes the Rangers worth watching.
