Strangest play... ever?

By Eric Sorenson - February 03, 2007

Well, okay not as strange as the hidden/throwaway ball trick Miami pulled on Wichita State at the College World Series back in the 80s.

But with a man on first, Fullerton's Clark Hardman lined a single to Stanford RF Michael Taylor. Harmless enough, right? Somehow, like something out of a Bad News Bears movie, Taylor 1- misplayed the ball, letting it get 10 feet past him. The runners kept running to second and third. 2- Taylor then went throw the ball and it slipped backward, out of his hand. The runners ran to home plate and third. And 3- He went to pick the ball up again, and he lost the grip again. So Hardman, initially given a single, scored on the play.

Maybe that's the "child" part of the Man-Child name I called Taylor in an earlier post. Sorry Michael, that wasn't nice, I know. Taylor was given two errors on the play.

That bit of strangeness was followed by a two-run double from Chris Jones. New game now as it's tied at 5. Stanford's Jeffery Inman is now being pulled from the game. Fullerton has men on first and second with two outs.