Nationals’ Alcides Escobar falls through a gate after ball knocks open a latch
The odds of this happening again in a Major League Baseball game this season seem remote at best.
Heck, it may be something that fans never see happen again.
In the top of the first inning of Thursday’s Nationals-Phillies game, Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper popped up a pitch into foul ground near the stands behind third base.
Washington’s Alcides Escobar gave chase, but couldn’t get to the ball in time. Escobar’s momentum took him into the wall in foul territory and he fell through a gate door that opened.
“And, please, somebody lock the gate for crying out loud,” Nationals broadcaster Bob Carpenter said. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
As it turns out, the gate was locked. The ball off Harper’s bat bounced off the ground and hit the latch, opening the gate.
Good luck trying to replicate that. Twitter user Blake Finney shared the super-slow motion replay of the quirky event:
Despite what Carpenter said, the latch is on outside of the gate. Otherwise fans would have easy access to the field.
And that’s how Escobar, the former Royals shortstop, ended up in the stands.
