Delmon Young isn’t typically known for his defense, but Alex Rodriguez might argue otherwise.
In the first inning of Thursday’s game between the Orioles and Yankees, A-Rod hit a fly ball deep to right field that was ready to be career home run No. 661, taking him past Willie Mays on baseball’s all-time list. However, Young had other ideas. Who knew he wanted so badly to maintain Mays’ home run legacy?
This guy was Clark Kent buried in kryptonite w/@Phillies What gives? Delmon Young: http://t.co/kW9XdFvdOg pic.twitter.com/AP24Spit03”
— Thomas E. Haines (@hainesVI) May 7, 2015
For the purposes of the ballgame, Young’s catch prevented the Yankees from taking a 3-1 lead. A-Rod’s long fly ball did result in a sacrifice fly, driving in Jacoby Ellsbury to tie the score at 1-1. But it’s easy to forget that after the unexpected sight of Young making an impressive defensive play in the outfield, the sort of leaping catch that amateur and professional players dream of accomplishing on the field.
The argument could be made that Young didn’t have as much ground to cover back to the fence with Yankee Stadium’s short right field distances, but let’s not take away from what we saw here. Rub your eyes, shake your head, slap your cheeks — that really happened, folks.
Young, by the way, actually plays right field relatively well, according to advanced metrics. During his career, Ultimate Zone Rating says he’s saved one run more than an average player at that position.
You can watch video of the play at MLB.com.
