Coach Roberts’ defense is better than Pollack’s all-time home run steal joke
AJ Pollack (34, LA Dodgers), who showed his performance the day before, sent a joking compliment.
Pollack started as a left fielder in a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on August 25.
Pollack showed defense in the bottom of the fourth inning to save the team from a crisis. At the bottom of the fourth inning, when he continued to lead the 1-0-year-old ice sheet, Manny Machado’s batting ball headed to the left-center audience. Everyone thought it was a home run, but Pollack picked up the dropout point, jumped in front of the fence and stole a home run bat.
Pollack’s defense was excellent enough to make pitcher Julio Urias raise his right hand immediately after confirming that he had taken the batter. If the ball had gone over, it could have immediately turned the tables and handed over the mood. Considering that the Dodgers continued their 1-0 lead until the middle of the game, Pollack’s super catch was simply a defense that saved the team.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a joking remark the next day, although the lake rain still lingered. In an interview with reporters on the 26th, Roberts said, “I think my catch looks better. I’m just kidding,” he said.
According to Bill Plunkit of the Orange County Register, “Catch” referred to by Roberts seems to mean stealing home runs that he showed in 2003 when he was active. Roberts, then a center fielder for the Dodgers, stole a home run by climbing up Tal’s Hill, a former specialty of the Houston Astros’ home field Minute Made Park.
Thals Hill was behind the center field, and it was a small hill with a slope of 30 degrees, so outfielders had a hard time defending. But Roberts went for a long time before climbing up Thals Hill and turning Lance Berkman’s home run into an out. Roberts was also a super catch made in a two-point lead.
That doesn’t mean Roberts has devalued Pollock’s defense. “I’ve been playing baseball better than anyone else lately,” Roberts said in an interview the previous day. “He played really well, and he runs around the ground energetically,” he said, raving about Pollack’s recent performance.
Meanwhile, Pollack, the main character of home run theft, is scheduled to start as the fourth batter and left fielder in the game on Wednesday.
