Typically I’m not impressed by ballplayers catching fly balls and home runs with their hats. These guys are major leaguers for a reason. They should have the hand-eye coordination needed to pull off a catch like that, but I’m giving credit to Orioles reliever Luis Ayala because this home run was absolutely stung by Ryan Flaherty.
As you can see from the video above, the ball was tailing the opposite way and was about as much of a line-drive home run as you will see. Given the circumstances, Ayala made it look relatively easy. Was it up there with this popcorn bucket catch we saw a young kid make earlier this season? Not even close, but it was definitely one of the top bullpen plays of the season. I guess that’s worthy of some mention.
