The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in their season opener Sunday, and they may have received an assist from some signage in doing so.
Cubs second baseman Javier Baez was slow to react to a second inning ground ball off the bat of Aledmys Diaz. What should have been a double play ended up going to his left, allowing Dexter Fowler to go from first to third and setting up the first Cardinals run.
According to Baez, he didn’t see the ball until it was past the mound due to a white advertising sign behind home plate.
“I’m not afraid to make mistakes and when I make them there are no excuses, but I didn’t see the ball at all until it passed the mound,” Baez said, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN. “I realized it was the sign because he was getting out of the box and I still didn’t see the ball.”
We’ve heard of players losing balls in lights before, but a sign is a new one. It’s a valid excuse if it was in the wrong place at the wrong time, though.
