Kelly Shoppach Slide Fail: Red Sox Catcher Stumbles Into Second Against Rays (VIDEO)

Worst slide ever?

When a player slides feet-first into a base, his feet tend to touch the base first. Not this time.

Against the Rays on Friday, Red Sox catcher Kelly Shoppach attempted to record his first career stolen base and authored perhaps the most unlikely bit of thievery since Milton pilfered that money from Initech. Shoppach broke from first base against the Rays on Friday with a delayed steal. As he made his way toward second, he slid a little too early as Tampa Bay catcher Jose Molina rose out of his crouch for the throw. Hilarity ensued.

Shoppach stumbled onto his knee as the throw came into second baseman Jeff Keppinger. Already behind Keppinger, Shoppach had seemingly avoided the tag. He then fell forward and completed the slide going in head first.

"It was awesome. I actually have already got a great idea of how I'm going to hang [the base] up," Shoppach said, via MLB.com. "Still photo of me sliding, jumping, kissing the dirt, getting the bag up."

Thank you, Shoppach.

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Comments

[hungryaardvark]

11:15 AM on 04/18/2012

If MLB won't let video clips be used, screw 'em totally. Sometimes if folks can see that there is a small chance that they might be a few seconds of entertainment at a game, that there might be a reason to sit through hours of expensive boredom. MLB is a federally legal monopoly in the US. That should end.

Even more silly is the fact that the "World" Series won't let anyone else compete from outside the US other than maybe a team from Montreal on rare occasion. US arrogance thinks that the the US is the entire world. That's true in sports, politics, and corruption.

Perhaps if MLB had to actually compete internationally, it might be able to justify the term "World Series" as something beyond a commercial trademark.

[dmac]

03:13 PM on 04/18/2012

I certainly agree that MLB is strangely stingy with its clips; does nothing to encourage interest by the casual fan.

But to me, the silliest thing is the number of people who find the time to come on to baseball-related threads and go on about how boring the game is. OK. You don't like the game. I got that when you referred to the Montreal team that hasn't played in the last 8 years (the Canadian team is in Toronto. It's a whole other city.) You know, I'm not interested in golf, basketball, or football. Because I'm not interested and therefore haven't taken the time to understand the games, I find them boring. But I have never joined a discussion thread on those games to express my boredom or disdain. Why do people feel that need when it comes to baseball?


Oh, wow, the World Series complaint. Gee, nobody's thought of that before! It started before baseball became popular in the rest of the world, though now baseball has. What would be the motivation for changing the name? However, if you watch the World Baseball Classic, International competitions (The Euros are in September, if you're interested), or the performance of players who have come from the Japanese Leagues, American MLB is still the highest level of play.

[hungryaardvark]

03:42 PM on 04/18/2012

As a kid I loved Baseball. Then we moved out of the country for ten years. Totally forgot about it after that after so many other sports opportunities became visible.

Our preference is for ocean racing and cruising (sailboats), Formula One that we enjoy traveling out of the country to see, and petanque that we play wherever we go (not on US TV at all). TX as a Formula One destination starting this year doesn't interest us when for the same money we can enjoy the races in Montreal and Europe, see many friends who don't get here, and have a lot more fun.

The issue is with MLB being stingy with its videos that the headlines on the posts suggest will be there. It's perhaps their right to control their images. It's everyone else's right to blow them off for being dinks.

[WellReadAussie2]

06:36 AM on 04/18/2012

Maybe it was karma for the Red Sox game against the Texas Rangers this morning.
Please forgive me but my 'love" of baseball hasn't yet extended to every player, but the 2nd base Sox player was grounded face first by the Rangers player really barreling down, and from where I was sitting....let's say I couldn't see exactly how the Rangers player would have tagged the plate, but instead he just hit the Sox 2nd base man knee high.
With my accepted limited knowledge about the games finer points, I found it difficult to understand why THAT was a legal slide.
Made absolutely no difference to the level of thrashing handed out to the Sox.

[AAHewetson]

01:27 PM on 04/16/2012

Video goes up.

Video gets blocked.

This would make sense is somehow MLB thought they could market and profit from this clip but, come one, it's already happened.

[Killermolls44]

04:06 AM on 04/16/2012

Might've been a clutzy moment but hey it was safe, and it least it was unexpected and entertaining! Go Red Sox!

[FormerlyTCnSRQ]

11:16 PM on 04/15/2012

lots of bad things going on in Red Sox nation these days....long summer for them.

[paddles]

12:06 PM on 04/16/2012

Not really pal-three game winning streak against a very good team. Too bad they signed Booby Valenwhine-but I think they can win IN SPITE of him.

[PirateJohn]

09:12 PM on 04/15/2012

Wow, he looked like an Italian soccer player.

[George Picard]

11:01 AM on 04/15/2012

He was safe, so it cant be the worst ever.

[macs3rd]

10:21 AM on 04/15/2012

SAFE!!!!!!!
The Red Sox win the Home Opener in the 100th year of Fenway Park!!!!!!! GO RED SOX!!!!!!!

[notadumbblonde]

04:21 PM on 04/15/2012

Back atcha!

[Killermolls44]

04:05 AM on 04/16/2012

Go sox go!

[Ralph Taylor]

10:15 AM on 04/15/2012

New secret method that completely messes up the mind of the catcher, and it worked! GO SOX!

[Seafarer61]

04:58 AM on 04/15/2012

He slid into second like a drunk diving onto the sofa.

[AAHewetson]

01:28 PM on 04/16/2012

Like Tom Cruise falling in love.

[Vintage59]

04:13 AM on 04/15/2012

Klopman needs to look up the definition of fail. It was ugly but it worked.

[toti]

08:09 PM on 04/14/2012

can't be the worst. he was safe.

[cookerman45]

06:45 PM on 04/14/2012

safe....all that matters.