Blow the ball foul? Hey, worth a try

June 6th, 2023

TORONTO -- tried to huff and puff and blow that ball foul.

In one of the stranger plays you’ll see this season, Manoah tracked a Jeremy Peña bunt down the third-base line in the top of the first inning of the Blue Jays' 11-4 loss in the series opener against the Astros on Monday. Like a long putt rolling across the green, it broke towards the foul line for a few feet but then changed its mind, breaking back toward fair territory.

That’s when Manoah decided to … encourage the ball.

With Matt Chapman dancing up the line on the other side of the ball, Manoah dropped into a deep crouch -- nearly on all fours -- and tried to blow the ball over the foul line. That’s harder than it looks, though, and Manoah had no luck changing the ball’s path.

This play brings us back to 1981 with Mariners third baseman Lenny Randle, who made the play famous by blowing an Amos Otis bunt foul. That bunt had some more life to it, but Randle fully committed to the bit, dropping to his stomach and crawling up the line on his hands and knees to finish the job. Otis was still awarded first base, though.