Thursday, August 09, 2012

Bernadina's Great Catch

On Tuesday, Roger Bernadina saved the Nat. Up by one run with two men on and two out in the bottom of the 12th, the Astros Brett Wallace hits the ball to deep left center. I was screaming for Roger to catch it, but I didn't really believe it was humanly possible. That was especially so as the ball drifted farther than I thought it would go.

Bernadina leaped and crashed into the wall, disappearing behind a jutting portion of the barrier. A Nat reliever jumped for joy like a two year old who just go some candy. That was really the only indication that Bernadina caught the ball until he slowly stood up and showed the ball in his glove donning a smile as wide as the ocean.

It's one thing to view great catches on replay. But their true greatness must be judged by watching them in real time. When the ball is hit, is it conceivable that the ball can be caught? That's why the Nats relieve jumped for joy. It was just about winning a game. It was about Bernadina achieving the seemingly impossible. I can only remember one other catch that I assumed had no chance of being made with so much on the line. That was Devon White's catch during Game 3 of the 1992 World Series.

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