3 brutal mistakes on the same play
— Lupus (@LupusBeowulf) October 10, 2025
1. Fielding error
2. Deciding to go home instead of 1B
3. Wild throw
Just painful to watch
Orion Kerkering with one of the most upfront, self aware & honest postgame interviews I’ve ever seen…
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) October 10, 2025
He’s clearly doing everything he can to hold back tears the entire time. I feel gutted for him. Just an all-time panic moment. Absolutely gutting.pic.twitter.com/udvBPuMezd
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67 comments:
Baseball can be Shakespearean, at times.
A broken bat distorts how the ball comes off the bat. It's a tough play by its very nature.
I agree with Rory re mistake 1. But mistake 2 is the head shaker.
Man… between the Phillies and the Eagles, it was a very bleak and disappointing day for Philadelphia sports fans.
Anyway…
I don’t think the wild throw mattered—it looked like he’d be too late even with a clean throw. Which makes the decision to pass up the easy out at first that much more disasterous.
Bases loaded and 2 out? A throw to 1st on an infield ground ball is like the Eleventh Commandment...or something.
Eventually, everybody gets the yips. That said, the walkoff is the most exciting finish in all of sports. The emotional flip flopping is electric.
I played a lot of ball when young, mostly as a pitcher. That’s a lot more difficult play than a non-player thinks. Most pitchers land a little awkwardly and have to regain their footing. Still, a pro should make the play. Go Cubs! Greg Maddux was one of the greatest defensive pitchers.
Shouting Thomas - Me too, brother! A long time ago.
Baseball related question - If the Brewers make the World Series, will any of the WI Althouse folk attend?
“Every day it gets better” for the Phillies. The pitcher played that one like Chuck Schumer has played the shut-down.
I think that would be an unearned run, right?
Was it scored a fielding error? (looks up the box score) Yes*. I'm with Rory and Shouting Thomas; broken bat and pitcher fielding it makes for a difficult play. The decision to go home is not technically an error. That is a fielder's choice. I could see the throw wildly off mark scored as an error.
*Looking at news stories, it appears it is the "wild throw" scored as a throwing error, which is still technically fielding.
A painful loss, but the runner crossed the plate well before the first base runner would have been thrown out, and the pitcher had to run forward to grab the ball - so it's anyone's guess whether he could have wheeled around and made first base in time.
Hey there was a winner in this one, too - what about them?
Eamus Catuli. We shall know by Sunday. Outstanding effort at Wrigley so that it will all come down to one game.
Fly The W.
The runner beat the throw so the only 1 and 2 wwere mistakes, and he had plenty of time to go to 1st, so only 2. The guy panicked. Shit happens.
I think we should kind of relax about the play. The Phillies lost because the offense choked for 75% of the series, not because one guy choked on one play. Let's say he made the play perfectly... they just would've lost later. Because the offense could not do a damn thing.
We old Red Sox fans are unimpressed.
Without looking back over the comments that I just skimmed, I couldn't say who was playing who.
It's like listening to Paul Carrey and Ernie Harwell on the radio for this or that baseball game, just for the tempo and the sound, no idea who's playing or who's winning, except it was the Tigers of course.
Tempo and sound, great. Identity irrelevant.
"...A throw to 1st on an infield ground ball is like the Eleventh Commandment."
Exactly, in this situation, a wild throw to first would have been a lot more forgivable.
Every player in the infield should have been yelling "first." I'm guessing no one did, or they couldn't be heard.
Phillies fans take solace in the Ben Franklin poem:
No matter the reason
No matter the play
Your heart surely knows
They'd lose anyway
Ironically, these short videos have gotten me back into watching baseball long form, you know, whole games at a time. Just watched a YouTube short yesterday that was a collection of 9-3 outs, which were pretty cool, I don't remember ever seeing one live.
It never ceases to amaze me that pitchers who can put the ball a few microns from their intended target are frequently incapable of throwing to a base.
I can hit the trash bag 100% of the time with wadded up paper towels from across the room provided I do it left-handed, even though I'm right-handed. Maybe pitchers should try that.
In the three games they lost, the Phillies scored a total of 7 runs. That is the reason they're done for the year.
…behind the bag- it gets thru buckner! Here comes ‘night’…
…you tell yourself it wasn’t because of that one play. It doesn’t help…
Sex and sports? Crosswords and boobs? Conversations in transition.
If he goes to first base, it's a force play so it doesn't matter whether the runner from third has crossed the plate or not. Runner could have been in the locker room taking a shower if the throw beats the runner to first it's on to the twelfth. You have to feel sorry for the pitcher. As someone above pointed out, the broken bat, the circumstances all leading to a bad decision. It's kind of like those quarterbacks who have spiked the ball on fourth down to stop the clock. You have to feel for Kerkering.
"They should have named the Ted Williams Tunnel the Buckner Tunnel." - Boston joke.
One of those 9-3 outs in the YouTube short was [obviously] the right fielder throwing the guy out at first with bases loaded, ending the inning, on what looked for all the world like a single that might have scored two runs.
Man fielding errors are the worst. Just demoralizing.
"Political Junkie said...
Baseball related question - If the Brewers make the World Series, will any of the WI Althouse folk attend?"
I'm in Milwaukee, just four miles from Am Fam Field. I'm a Cubs fan for 60 years so I won't go. If you have to buy on the secondary market the tickets will be way too expensive. I did look at Saturday's game 5 against the cubs and decent seats are in the $450-600 range. I'll watch on TV.
thanks ... I was curioso
... If he goes to first base, it's a force play so it doesn't matter whether the runner from third has crossed the plate or not.
Phillies pitcher on the mound… hands on his knees… staring at the same ground that he, at that moment, wished he could melt and disappear into…
Tough way to end the season.
The rarer 7-3 putout: https://youtu.be/XghUJ36DsVc?si=UB3XVa8do2zOwJVx
RIP Bill Buckner.
and NOW.. THREE DAYS off to travel..
THREE DAYS (that's more than half a rotation)
Fifty years ago, I lost a game in an almost identical fashion; last inning, tie game, one out, bases loaded, a swinging bunt in front of the plate, the only play was to try to force the runner at home, I made an off-balance flip to home which the catcher couldn't handle.
Thanks for dredging up that memory. Ugh.
ask Jon Lester how easy it is for a pitcher to throw to 1st..
and this Philli would have had to throw behind him to 1st (after flubbing the fielding)
@Leland — You are correct. The throw home is not an error. But it a mistake. Huge mistake.
In light of boobs in crossing, the sexual metaphors are painfully obvious. Hey, lady, what you got cook'n.
Sometimes, wishes come true.
A diehard Mets fan, I said to my wife last night, before Pages' at bat, that I wanted a wild pitch, catcher's interference, maybe a ball right thru Harper's legs.
I wanted those a**holes to lose in the most embarrassing fashion possible.
Sometimes, wishes come true.
Candace Owens saw that play and immediately called the game rigged ;P
How did you lose your millions?
2 ways. Slowly at first and then all of a sudden.
The throw to the plate didn't beat the runner but the runner didn't initially touch home and had to come back. Note the ump didn't call him safe until he came back. A good throw and he would have been out
Painful baseball.
These people are professionals, who have been playing this game all their lives. There are two outs. You take a breath and calmly throw the ball to first.
Baseball, the game designed to break your heart.
Right Fielder: May I help you?
First Base: No, thank you.
[greeting the next player leaving the field:]
First Base: Hi.
Pitcher: Hello.
First Base: Do you remember me?
Pitcher: No, I'm sorry.
First Base: There were two outs and I’ve been waiting for your throw. You ignored me.
Pitcher: Oh.
First Base: You get paid extra to advance in the playoffs, right?
Pitcher: Ah, yes.
First Base: Big mistake. Big. Huge. You have to take your wife and girlfriend shopping now.
Not a fielding error, that was a tough play off a broken bat. Other 2 mistakes were head-shakers. But lots of pressure.
"Every player in the infield should have been yelling "first." I'm guessing no one did, or they couldn't be heard."
The catcher was pointing to first. You can see him in the video above.
A professional athlete had a Joe Biden brain bleep moment. Or maybe he just made a Joe Biden throw. Stuff happens.
Dave Roberts is fond of reminding players that things happen when you put the ball in play. Several times the Dodgers put pressure on the Phillies by loading the bases or having runners in scoring position. Each time the ball is put in play there is a chance for things to happen, and so it did. The Dodger's gave themselves opportunities. It is tough for that pitcher who had a split second under extreme pressure to act. He was probably so hyper focused on making just the right pitch because any mistake there would also have lead to a game ending score. Immense pressure. Each pitch could mean the end of the road. So when everything happened on the broken bat nubber, he make a snap decision an it did not play out. For those wondering how he could flub such a short throw, remember adrenaline is pumping and he is trying to pull his throw. He does not want a 95 MPH fastball at 45 feet, he is trying to add just enough velo to get it there in time without taking his catcher's head off.
Remember on an earlier game (game 2) which was on the line, Edmonds made a poor throw to Freeman who had to make a tough dig to get the runner out. A failure there could also have shifted everything for the Phillies. Instead they took a loss at home. Freddie saved Tommy, but he also could have bobbled it and cost the game.
Things happen when the ball is put in play.
Pro Golfers make bad decisions all the time when its the 4th round and they're in the final nine. And they have a caddy and they're not having to make a split second decision.
Trump appointed Wray as FBI director. And he didn't have 50000 fans screaming at him.
Game-winning dribbler.
"Mason G said...
The catcher was pointing to first. You can see him in the video above."
Yes, but the pitcher is looking at the ball not him. Then reacted wrongly, and quickly.
If he'd made the play perfectly, the Phillies still had to find a way to win game 4, and then win game 5. They lost because their big offensive guns didn't get the job done.
It's also a bonus to see Phillies fans lose.
Shit happens. It's just a game. Victory and its sweet reward is only fleeting and doesn't really matter. Scott Scheffler, the best golfer in the world told us so. And, he's right. None of us, really, have any skin in hte game. Oh well. The billionaire owners will still be billionaires. And the millionaire players will still be millionaires.
I'm so tired of professional (and semi-professional) sports.
It's also a bonus to see Phillies fans lose.
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles lost to a mediocre-at-best Giants team and the Flyers lost their opener.
Philadelphia is the earth's version of the Mos Eisley Spaceport - you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy - and I am here for all of the pain they so richly deserve.
"Yes, but the pitcher is looking at the ball not him."
Ballplayers give direction to each other vocally during the game. I've never played at anything like this level but based on my limited experience, I'd bet just about anything he wasn't only pointing- he was almost certainly yelling "First!" as loud as he could. I'm sure the pitcher was so panicked, he wasn't focusing on what he was hearing.
Nobody died, nobody blinded, nobody concussed, nobody hit in the groin, no fights. Not so brutal.
There was a time in my life I would've been jumping, yelling and having a grand ol' time watching 'my' Dodgers pull one out of the fire in the post-season.
But, since MLB decided to go the route of the NFL - and lecture us on left-wing social issues - this clip is the first I heard about it.
…and you’re why the Savannah Bananas were invented Jake…
I hope someone reminds Orion about the first night he pitched in relief. He struck out the side and made his father, who was in the stands with the rest of his family, cry with tears of joy.
I don't feel one bit sorry for the Phillies, although I'm a huge fan. A lot of them make a lot of money playing a game. They had many opportunities in the 1st two games to score runs but they didn't. You can put any pitcher on the mound you want but it don't do diddly unless you score runs.
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