The Most Unforgettable Catches In MLB History
The most memorable catches in MLB history
The National League formed in 1876, followed by the American League 25 years later. The 142 years since that first big league season. That’s a lot of baseball. And those years have seen, if my time-consuming calculations are correct, somewhere between 12 and one trillion catches. But humanity’s desire to play baseball predated our desire to watch moving pictures on boxes in our living rooms. So there isn’t video evidence of every single one of baseball history’s catches. Therefore, for this list of the most memorable catches in MLB history, we had to make do with recorded history.Jim Edmonds goes over the head
While not the fleetest of foot center fielder, Jim Edmonds still claimed eight Gold Glove awards thanks in part to his preternatural ability to know where a ball will end up.
On June 10, 1997, he utilized this super power to rob the Royals’ David Howard of a game-tying extra-base hit.
Derek Jeter goes into the stands
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It’s not the most technically difficult catch on this list, but Jeter put his body on the line in a huge moment during the 2001 ALDS.
In the final game of a five-game set, with the Yankees protecting a two-run lead, Jeter bounded into the stands to get Terrence Long for the second out of the eighth with one man on. The Yankees would hold on to win.
Brian McRae does it all
With two outs and the bases loaded on April 15, 1993, McRae’s incredible diving catch limited the Yankees to one run in the bottom of the eighth, holding their lead to 4-0. The Royals scored five runs in the next frame, with McRae driving in Phil Hiatt to take a 5-4 lead Kansas City would keep.
Kevin Pillar is the wrong superhero
Pillar’s antics in the outfield have earned him the moniker “Superman.” But for this catch 22 years to the day after Brian McRae’s thievery, Pillar summoned the powers of Spider-Man, scaling the Rogers Centre’s high outfield fence before reaching over and snagging the ball in his web to take a dinger away from the Rays’ Tim Beckham.