San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee made an unbelievable catch during Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Rays – with more than a little help from his calves and his knees.
In the top of the fourth inning, Lee was running to his left towards a drive from Yandy Díaz when he slid and reached out his hand to make the catch.
However, the ball popped out of his glove and rolled down his inner thigh and calf before Lee managed to grip it just below his knees.
As he stood up, the 26-year-old Korean nonchalantly plucked the ball out from between his legs – the improbable catch secured.
“I don’t care what anybody says, that’s the catch of the decade,” said Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper while calling the play. “Not of the year, not of the day, not of the week, not of the homestand – the decade.”
The Giants went on to win the game at 7-1 and end their seven-game losing streak. Before Sunday, they had also lost 15 of their last 16 games at Oracle Park.
“The wind was pretty heavy, and the ball was reaching out a lot, so I went for the slide,” Lee later told reporters via an interpreter. “I did catch it, but I felt like it was going under my body starting from the chest. It was a funny catch, for sure.
“As soon as I felt the ball just dropping down, sliding down my body, I felt like I had to squeeze onto something … In the end, I squeezed it with my calves.”
Teammate Drew Gilbert called it a “winning play from a winning player.”
“That was pretty crazy, that was very impressive,” Gilbert told reporters. “That’s a big play … Glad he’s on our team.”
As for Díaz, he said that he was “200 percent sure” that he would end up with a double before seeing Lee emerge with the ball between his legs.
“I had the bad luck that he caught the ball,” Díaz added, per MLB.com. “I think he’s the only player who’s ever done that. It was a very weird play.”
