Ex-Royals player gives funny acceptance speech after ‘winning’ balk of the year award
In a game against Toronto on July 3, Rays manager Kevin Cash approached Brett Phillips and asked if he could pitch.
It’s a reasonable query given Phillips plays in the outfield, but he agreed to take the ball in what would be a 10-1 Blue Jays victory.
Hilarity ensued as Phillips had one of the more, uh, creative pitching motions you’ll ever see in a game. Phillips tried to emulate Bugs Bunny at one point and accidentally knocked the ball out of his hand for a balk.
He didn’t know it at the time, but that earned Phillips an award: The Pitching Ninja Balk of the Year.
Rob Friedman, aka Pitching Ninja, is a popular Twitter account that highlights the good (and sometimes bad) things Major League Baseball pitchers do.
Here is Friedman discussing the Balk of the Year award.
Phillips, who was traded from the Royals to the Rays in 2020, chose to embrace the “honor” with a tongue-in-cheek acceptance speech.
Here is part of what he said: “When they called me initially and said that I was up for the running for a pitching performance, of course, I was like, yeah, no, duh,” Phillips said. “You know, Cy Young, strikeouts, and they’re like, ‘No, Balk of the year.’
“I’m not gonna lie. It hit me my ego a little bit. But then my wife and my family and friends were like, ‘Hey, it’s still an award. You know? Enjoy it. Go celebrate. Make sure you thank the fans and stuff.’ So here I am. Thank you for the Balk of the Year award. I appreciate each and every one of you who voted for me and couldn’t be more excited, going to go celebrate and have some fun.”
