The baseball was flying at the Great American Ballpark
on Sunday, where the Rockies and Reds combined to hit a stadium record
nine home runs in Cincinnati's 7-5 victory. That
barrage included Todd Frazier's solo home run off Jamie Moyer — the
fourth he allowed in as many innings — that sailed comfortably into the
seats above the left field scoreboard.
Frazier's blast wasn't the longest home run of the afternoon. That
distinction belonged to Michael Cuddyer, who hit one 448 feet to center
field one half inning later. But Frazier's was by far the most
impressive, because he practically did it with no hands.
Yes, you read that correctly. And if you've watched the video, what
you saw actually happened. The bat slipped completely out of Frazier's
hands as he made contact with Moyer's 72 mph changeup, and it nearly
ended up in the pitcher's lap 60 feet from home plate. Yet the ball
kept carrying, and carrying, and carrying, all the way to Frazier's
fifth home run of the season.
''I felt the bat slipping out of my hands,'' Frazier said. ''I looked
at the (slow motion) and it looks like my bottom hand is off. At first,
I thought it was a short popup, but then I took a couple of steps and
said, 'Oh.' It's a pretty interesting way to hit a home run. It was a
pretty cool.''
If you look at the same motion replay Frazier is referencing — it's in the video above or at the :35 mark of this Twitvid
— you can clearly see Frazier's right hand is completely off the bat,
while his left hand barely holds on. Then comes the contact that led to
the incredible result and the bat goes flying.
Truly an odd home run. And truly an odd baseball game in that Reds
starter Mat Latos allowed five runs in seven plus innings without ever
entering the stretch. That's because all five hits he allowed were solo
homers.
Like I said, the ball was flying on this Sunday afternoon in
Cincinnati, and for the first time perhaps in their history, a Rockies
pitching staff is boarding an airplane on their way back to Coors
Field, and actually looking forward to it.