MINNEAPOLIS -- Did the player control the ball as it made contact with the ground? Was it under the player’s full control before it popped into the air as he proceeded through the act of the catch?
Bet you didn’t think you’d have to ponder these questions while watching a baseball game.
But during the first inning of Wednesday evening’s 4-3 Twins victory over the Padres in 11 innings at Target Field, Joey Gallo made a catch that might have left even longtime baseball watchers scratching their heads about what it means to catch a ball -- but both teams proceeded without much fanfare after Gallo turned the snag into a double play.
Playing left field, Gallo gave chase to a popup down the line off the bat of Manny Machado and went into a slide as the ball fell into his glove. But as the glove and ball hit the ground, the force of the impact jarred the ball loose and into the air -- and Gallo, to his credit, had the focus and presence of mind to reach out with his bare hand and snag the ball before it fell to earth.
So … did he actually get it?
“I don't know,” Gallo admitted. “I think I did? I thought, 100 percent, I did. And when I went down with the glove, I kept the glove under it and it just bounced up.”
The Padres’ baserunners seemed to think it hadn’t been caught, because Jake Cronenworth -- the runner at first -- was standing at second, with Machado on first. Gallo sprang to his feet and fired to first, where the Twins doubled off Cronenworth without much contest.
Replays seemed to show that the baseball touched the ground while nestled in Gallo’s glove as the impact caused it to pop into the air -- but was it still under Gallo’s control at the time? Does it matter? Is it a catch? Is it not a catch?
“I don’t know if at one point in time the ball was on the ground,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “I’m not sure.”
Either way, it’s a moot point because both teams proceeded without any significant fanfare -- and Melvin didn’t challenge the play.
“It’s really early in the game, and you’re not sure,” Melvin said.
And apparently Gallo can add 80-grade hands to his scouting report alongside his prodigious raw power and arm. He made sure to check out his handiwork afterward.
“I just looked at the broadcast version of it, because that's really all we have,” Gallo said. “We don't really get all the angles and stuff. They've probably got the slow-motion and stuff. I just looked at it, just to see what it looked like.”