Tag: Subway Series

I Have Never Seen a Play Like Cody Bellinger’s Catch and Throw

The New York Yankees salvaged the finale of their Subway Series on Sunday, defeating the New York Mets by a score of 6-4. The Yanks jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Mets started to fight their way back. The most important play occurred in the bottom of the 7th inning and the Mets threatening. With Francisco Lindor on first base, Juan Soto hit a sinking shot to left field toward Cody Bellinger. What followed was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen on a baseball diamond.

Cody Bellinger’s great double play helped out the Yanks. Credit: Yahoo Sports

Bellinger managed to catch the ball on his shoetips. As if this catch wasn’t amazing enough, Bellinger managed to keep his feet and uncork a strike to double Lindor off first. It was the play of the game. Any momentum the Mets had was snuffed out by Bellinger and allowed the Yankees to win their first game in the month of July.

As for the play itself, I have never witnessed anything like that. It should easily land as the Play of the Week when the next edition is shown on MLB Network. In fact, it should be the Play of the Year. This is not to disparage any of the other gems we have seen so far this year such as Denzel Clarke scaling the wall. We have seen the home run robbery, the backhand in the hole and the crashing into the stands. Many times. However, have we ever seen a left fielder charge a ball, catch it literally an inch from the ground, compose himself and then fire a bullet to first to complete a double play? I mean, have you ever seen a 7-3 double play? And if you have, was it as spectacularly executed as it was by Cody Bellinger? I would say the answer to that is a hard no.

If you haven’t seen the catch and throw, please click on the video below. See for yourself. I’ll bet you have never seen a play like this in your life. It is worthy of being the 2025 MLB Play of the Year, in this humble fan’s opinion.

New York Baseball Is Short on Fireworks

As I sit here on this lovely Fourth of July, the New York Mets and New York Yankees are facing off in the second Subway Series of 2025. The Yanks are currently ahead 5-4 but given how these two teams have played lately, no lead is safe. Both the Yanks and Mets started today out of first place, something that has not occurred in almost three months. The Mets have seemingly placed a pitcher on the injured list every day this week while the Yankees did nothing right in getting swept out of first place by the Toronto Blue Jays. July 4th represents celebrations, fireworks and good times. Unfortunately, our New York baseball teams are in short supply of all three.

Aaron Boone is looking for anything to spark the Yankees. Credit: Yahoo Sports

The MLB season is more than halfway complete. In the course of an entire season or even a half, bad baseball is going to happen for a period of time to all teams, no matter how good they are. The Yankees and Mets just happen to be going through their rough patches at the same time. Right now, it feels like neither team is going to return to the playoffs. The Blue Jays have surpassed the Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays have pulled even with them. The Philadelphia Phillies’ lead over the Mets feels a lot larger than just one game. The Yankees arguably suffered their worst loss of the season Wednesday night, getting behind 8-0, tying it at 9 and then losing 11-9 with Aaron Judge in the on deck circle. The Mets have won two games in a row but the last time that happened, they were blasted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in their next series. Anthony Volpe can’t stop making mistakes in the field, Mark Vientos looks lost since he returned from the IL. The rotations (minus Max Fried) can’t go past five innings, the bullpen can’t hold leads. Mental mistakes are happening all over the diamond and the managers can’t stop the bleeding. Other than these “minor” issues, everything is just swell with the Yankees and Mets.

There are still another three months left in the season. Both teams desperately need to get to the All Star Break. Management has to evaluate the greatest need for each of their respective organizations. The good vibes that existed all of last Summer for the Yankees and Mets have evaporated on this special day. The array of fireworks that began the season have turned out to be duds. It’s not too late to turn them back into Roman Candles.