Fans sync up to call K's behind the plate

March 13th, 2023

If you're a fan sitting behind home plate, you're pretty much as close to the action as it's possible to be. You might be so locked in from such a unique vantage point that you even feel like you're part of the game taking place not 90 feet away from you.

There was no better example of this than the group of fans sitting behind home plate at Chase Field for the World Baseball Classic game between the United States and Mexico on Sunday night. They were engaged in every at-bat, whether it was urging the home-plate umpire to ask for help on a check swing by pointing in unison up the first-base line, or calling foul balls or firing up their various punchout calls in time with the ump.

But what was most impressive about these particular fans was how they were in perfect lock-step with one another. This was a group so in sync they'd have made NSYNC consider an alternative career. Every strike call was synchronized, every punchout perfectly exaggerated, perfectly timed and perfectly pointed in the proper direction. These were no amateurs. Had they practiced in front of the mirror? Are they all best friends? Are they actually a synchronized swimming team?

It's all a bit of a mystery at this point, but what's very clear is that for a few innings at the World Baseball Classic, these fans behind the plate were a form of entertainment all to themselves.