During the 2011 MLB Home Run Derby the attention from fans and other social media critics quickly moved on from admiring the players to all the other action going on around the competition. There's only so many times you can tweet about Adrian Gonzalez' sweet stroke in a two three hour period.
As expected, the Twitter conversation quickly turned to mocking Chris Berman for his ridiculous calls and time-filling patter. When a kid made a diving grab in the outfield it got far more attention than yet another Robinson Cano home run blast. This is a long, long contest.
↵There was some delayed reaction later in the evening when word (and images!) came out showing a fan nearly falling to his death. As the Discovery Channel well knows, near death experiences are sure to grab people's attention and that holds true even in the age of social media.
↵But the one thing that got the Home Run Derby Twitterverse all riled up was the diving catch made by a fan in the pool area. Twitter King, @jose3030 was all over it with a quick video and the general consensus was summed up by this tweet:
↵↵↵Twitter / @jasonfisher: Guy just dove into the poo ...
↵
Guy just dove into the pool to catch a home run at the #hrderby and kept his beer above water. Real men of genius.
Genius? Maybe. But when we watch the video again and pay close attention we notice a few things that make the grab less spectacular.
↵
1. He had a glove. Real men don't wear a glove to baseball games and nobody wears a baseball glove to a pool party.
↵2. He caught the ball while standing on the deck. He then loses his balance and jumps into the pool. He had plenty of time to raise his beer hand and protect both the precious beverage as well as saving the pool from being contaminated with brew.
↵The following screen grab shows the moment of the catch. He clearly is not diving into the pool to make the grab which would have been far more impressive.
↵
Most of us here in Phoenix grew up around pools and spent our childhoods practicing this very play. I can't even begin to count the number of footballs and other assorted thrown items I caught while diving off a diving board. This play, even with the beer element added, would have barely rated a "4" if me and my 10-year-old friends were judging.
↵Of course, it was still awesome and it's fairly certain that there won't be a fan jumping into a pool with a beer and a ball in his hands at the 2012 Home Run Derby in Kansas City. #PhoenixWinning