Henry Rowengartner may have well been playing for the Cubs on Friday, because the synchronized slides from Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson looked like a scene straight out of “Rookie of the Year.”
Busch and Swanson each flopped into home plate one second apart, culminating a mad dash around the bases. In “Rookie of the Year,” Rowengartner – also playing for the Cubs – is nearly lapped on the bases by his teammate, and both players wind up sliding into home plate in sync.
Friday’s oddity took place in the second inning of the Cubs’ 4-3 loss to the Red Sox in Game 1 of a split doubleheader at Fenway Park. Cubs backstop Miguel Amaya stepped to the plate with Busch aboard at second base and Swanson stationed at first. Amaya lofted a towering fly ball that drove Red Sox left fielder Roman Anthony back toward the corner of the Green Monster. In fact, per Statcast, Amaya’s ball was blown in 60 feet by the wind, preventing a home run.
Instead of leaving the ballpark, the ball caromed high off the Monster, inciting chaos on the bases. Busch sprinted home, and Swanson – who read the ball particularly well – was hot on his heels. Busch had just finished his headfirst dive across home plate when Swanson arrived in the same fashion.
In the case the video doesn’t do justice, there’s this: Busch went from second to home in 10.97 seconds, while Swanson needed just 11.70 seconds to go from first to home, per Statcast. That means the two players crossed home plate less than a second apart.
We also saw a similar play happen last season, when the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos rounded third base in stride and slid feetfirst into home at nearly the same time.