There's nothing quite like the feeling of rounding the bases on a no-doubt home run, but what happens when there's a teeny tiny ounce of doubt? And what happens when that doubt results in a can-of-corn catch short of the wall?
For one confident minor leaguer who rounded basically all the bases before realizing his long ball was a long fly out, well, the result was complete and viral embarrassment.
That's an F7 on your scorecard, but a home run in Delvin Pérez's heart ? pic.twitter.com/05EIE3gH1R
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 23, 2022
That's Delvin Perez. He plays for the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Perez was up to bat against the Gwinett Stripers when he hit what he thought was the farthest home run of his life. Why else would he stop and stare at it the way he did? Even the cameraman was fooled by Perez's followthrough.
The only problem: the ball fell into the Stripers' left fielder's glove well short of the wall. Meanwhile, Perez was trotting around the bases like Barry Bonds after hitting No. 756. He finally realized what had happened after he touched third base, when his third base coach wasn't high-fiving him and his teammates were yelling at him.
"He didn't do the handshake," Perez told the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
"And then when I went toward home, I started hearing everybody. 'That's not a homer. What are you doing?' I was like, 'What? It didn't go out.' I couldn't believe it."
But hey, at least Perez is able to have a sense of humor about his moment:
.@memphisredbirds IF Delvin Pérez (@nivledprez810) rounded the bases and bat-flipped for a fly out to left last night. He's being a good sport about all the attention his home run celebration received.
"Next time I hit it?gotta make sure it's out." pic.twitter.com/ZCyqdqDohK
— Clayton Collier (@ClaytonJCollier) September 23, 2022
A first-round pick in 2016 out of Puerto Rico, the 23-year-old Perez is hitting .223 with five home runs and 21 stolen bases across AA and AAA this year. Hopefully he's able to find some better winds in the future.
