This year’s NBA Playoffs have featured an inordinate number of players getting hit in the nuts, as Dillon Brooks, James Harden, PJ Tucker, and Cam Payne have all delivered below the belt blows to opponents already this postseason. It’s an epidemic that I regret to report is spreading to the other sports as well as May begins.
On Monday, Tigers left fielder Akil Baddoo took off on an attempted steal of second base, but was thrown out by Guardians catcher Mike Zunino, thanks to what appeared to be a great catch and tag by Andres Gimenez. However, upon closer look, the ball actually went straight into poor Baddoo’s nuts, somehow bouncing into Gimenez’s glove to add insult to injury.
We don’t know what to say. Just watch. pic.twitter.com/rOUxKpIA4F
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 8, 2023
The replays really are incredible, because at first it looks like a pretty normal bang-bang play at second, with Gimenez reaching out to catch the ball as it tailed towards the right field side of the bag. However, as they showed different clips, trying to figure out why Baddoo was staying on the ground, it became clear that the ball absolutely smoked him before bouncing perfectly into Gimenez’s glove as he went for the tag. I’m not sure they could do this again if they tried, but I can be sure Baddoo won’t be looking to replicate this anomaly ever again.