You MUST see this all-time great baserunning fakeout

March 22nd, 2023

On May 5, 1993, Greg Maddux scored from second against the Pittsburgh Pirates by dancing around Pirates catcher Don Slaught at home plate. While the throw from center field beat Maddux by a good 10 feet, he was able to avoid two tag attempts from Slaught and dive into home plate ahead of the third tag to steal a run for the Braves.

Nearly 30 years later, Carthage (Texas) High School senior Jada Walton pulled off a move that would make Maddux smile with a fake-out for the ages in the Bulldogs’ 7-5 win over the Center Roughriders.

After a base hit up the middle from her teammate, Walton tried to score from home and, much like Maddux, looked dead to rights after the throw beat her by a good 10 feet. But instead of just giving up, Walton pulled off an array of baserunning moves that should be required viewing for any youth baseball or softball player.

After narrowly avoiding the catcher’s original tag, Walton tried to dive for the plate, which was immediately blocked by the catcher. From there, she stood up and remained still in front of the catcher while trying to figure out what to do next. After about two seconds of waiting, Walton pointed towards the Center dugout, which broke the catcher’s concentration just enough for Walton to get her hand on the plate before she was tagged.

Walton’s eventful dance around the plate had shades of some of the best slides in baseball history. It had the agility of Javier Báez’s daring steal of home against the Tigers, the elusiveness of Chris Coghlan’s dive over Yaider Molina and the malleability of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s slide back into first (with a little bit of Steph Curry to boot).

We’ll just have to wait to see if her trick inspires any Major Leaguers this season.