Why is David Hulse giving the Red Sox shortstop John Valentin the ball? Was there a pickoff play at second and the ball ended up on the ground in front of Hulse? If so, why not give it back to the pitcher, or to the umpire? And why is not even looking at Valentin? Does he hate him so intently he can't even look at him, or is there something so fascinating in front of him that he can't turn his eyes away?
I did a little research and it turns out it must be this game, May 29, 1993, when the Rangers got clobbered by the Scarlet Hose 15-1. This was the only day game in Fenway that Hulse reached second. He did so by reaching on an error by Mo Vaughn - then Valentin made an error on a ball hit by Jose Canseco, allowing Hulse to score Texas's only run.
I agree with your aborted pick-off play. I can imagine Hulse saying, "Nice try, oh here's the ball".
ReplyDeleteHow great is it that you can look up the box score of a game from 1993? I recently did a post about a game I dimly remembered from the late 1980s. I was able to locate the box score of the game I was looking for in less than 5 minutes.
Good research! Being down by 15 runs, it would seem likely for Hulse to be less than congenial with Valentin given the circumstances.
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