A groundout that must be seen to believed
Let's just say Ernie Clement is not a name earthworms and other dirt-loving creatures will speak fondly of. The play will go down as a "2-unassisted putout" in the scorebook, but his first at-bat groundout was anything but normal in Triple-A Columbus' 4-0 loss to Toledo. Leading off the home
Let's just say Ernie Clement is not a name earthworms and other dirt-loving creatures will speak fondly of. The play will go down as a "2-unassisted putout" in the scorebook, but his first at-bat groundout was anything but normal in Triple-A Columbus' 4-0 loss to Toledo.
Leading off the home second inning for the Clippers, Clement chopped a 1-2 offering into the ground right in front of home plate. Literally, into the ground. The ball took a direct dive into the dirt and didn't move. No bounce, no wiggle ... just a ball stuck in the proverbial mud. A magnetic force placed directly under the path of the ball could not have done a better job.
One of the rarest things you will ever see in baseball...
— Toledo Mud Hens (@MudHens) August 18, 2022
Yes folks, that was a fair ball. 😂#LetsGoHens | #DetroitRoots pic.twitter.com/8wAyKmNPeb
It took Toledo catcher Dustin Garneau a second to realize what had happened, but he immediately picked up the ball and tagged Clement for an unusual out. For his part, Clement, a 2017 Draft pick who has 264 Major League at-bats to his name, realized the ball was fair and made no attempt to run.
Possessing what appears to be a good sense of humor, the 26-year-old smiled and shook his head as he walked back to the dugout.
Clement followed up a highlight that will live on in the annals of the baseball highlight sphere with with a more traditional groundout in the fourth, chopping a routine grounder to shortstop Zack Short to end the inning.
Michael Avallone is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MavalloneMiLB.