Baseball fans took a jibe at Josh Donaldson after his base-running mistake in the New York Yankees’ 4-1 ALDS Game 1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday. Had the Yankees lost the game, his mistake would have been remembered as one of the worst ever made in Yankee Stadium.
As the fifth inning enters its last leg, both teams were tied at 1-1. Josh Donaldson smashed the ball off Cal Quantrill, who was starting for the Guardians. It looked like a home run, as the ball headed to go past the wall. Donaldson did a home run trot around the first base because he thought the ball had crossed the wall.
However, the ball hit the top of the right field wall and came very close to being a home run. It went back into play, where Oscar Gonzalez in the right field caught it and threw it to second base. By the time the ball got to second base, Josh Donaldson knew he had made a mistake. It was too late, though. He couldn’t get to either first or second base. As he tried to get back to first base, Amed Rosario got him.
If you want to keep the score at home, that’s a 9-6-3 putout.
Not only did Josh Donaldson think he hit a home run, but so did everyone else. Travis Chapman, the first base coach for the Yankees, met him as he came around first to give him a high five.
In their defense, it sure did look like a homer. And it came very close.
But if you do a home run trot, you better know for sure that the ball is going to the stands. And instead of a likely leadoff double if he had run it out, or at worst a single if he had realized his mistake in time, Josh Donaldson got the first out of the inning in a tie game.
Josh Donaldson was saved from more shame when his Yankees teammates drove in three more runs without being answered.
On Twitter, fans took a jibe at the third baseman.
What do you think about this mistake by Josh Donaldson? Leave a comment below.
