Orioles manager interrupts home-run trot to pull pitcher

By Dave Kovaleski May 18, 2018 at 9:34am

After Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a bomb off the light tower in left field at Fenway Park on Thursday, Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter had seen enough.

He couldn’t get starter Kevin Gausman off the mound fast enough.

In fact, Showalter was nearly on the mound to give him the hook before Bogaerts even crossed home plate.

https://twitter.com/Starting9/status/997280126650994688

The three-run blast by Bogaerts came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to give the Red Sox a 6-0 lead.

The replay shows that while Showalter was walking out to the mound, he crossed over the third-base line right in front on Bogearts, who surely noticed it, but looked down as he completed his home-run trot.

Buck Showalter will not yield for your home run trot: https://t.co/orszu8mJVv pic.twitter.com/OUTcl0gtnp

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) May 18, 2018

“Now watch Buck (Showalter),” said Red Sox play-by-play announcer Dave O’Brien. “He actually gets across the line before Bogaerts comes anywhere near home plate.”

“Is that showing up a pitcher or what?” said his broadcast partner, color commentator Dennis Eckersley.

Just watching the replay of the Xander homer. Love what Eck said about Buck crossing third base line to get Gausman as Bogaerts rounded 3rd.
Eckersley commented, "Boy, is that showing up a pitcher or what?"

— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) May 18, 2018

Bogaerts didn’t quite know what to make of it.

“I mean, I don’t know if you can do that or you can’t,” he said after the game, according to NESN. “I wasn’t worried either. But I kind of saw him as I was rounding third, you know?”

Should Showalter have waited until Bogaerts had touched home plate before going out to the mound to pull his pitcher?

Xander Bogaerts on this, which followed his homer in the 5th — 'I’m focused on touching the bases and getting my home run. But I saw him and I didn’t think anything of it. Afterwards, the guys, they’ve never seen stuff like that happen on a daily basis. It was weird.' #RedSox https://t.co/WEX9e8uhPP

— Bill Koch (@BillKoch25) May 18, 2018

“I didn’t think anything of it (at the time), but afterwards, the guys … they’ve never seen stuff like that happen on a daily basis. That was weird,” he added.

The Red Sox went on to win 6-2. David Price went the distance for the win, while Gausman took the loss.

The Sox improved to 30-14 while the hapless Orioles are 13-30.

Submit a Correction →

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:

Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, MLB

Dave Kovaleski

Contributor, Sports

SummaryMore Biographical InformationRecent PostsContact

Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.

Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.

Location

Massachusetts

Languages Spoken

English

Topics of Expertise

Sports