When Ichiro Suzuki danced, flipped and then tagged home plate Monday night to stake the Yankees to a 1-0 first-inning lead over the Orioles, it looked like a play only Ichiro could make.
The nimble Japanese star has been known to scale walls and swipe bases in the most creative of ways, and taking home plate in the playoffs, Matrix-style, immediately added to his legend.
But it turns out someone has put down a similar move before.
In May 1993, pitcher Greg Maddux was trying to score from second base when he saw the throw to Pittsburgh catcher Don Slaught was going to arrive before he could. Not willing to bowl into Slaught fullback-style, and not prepared to slide, Maddux pulled out his best evasive maneuvers.
Slaught, who moved to tag Maddux rather than just sitting on home plate, much like Orioles catcher Matt Wieters did Monday night as Suzuki zipped in, was caught whiffing as Maddux scored the run.
As good as both moves were, putting both teams up 1-0 in their respective games, apparently the home plate dance doesn’t guarantee victory. The Yankees lost 3-2, and Maddux and the Braves fell 4-1.
Check out the video of Maddux below, then scroll further to compare it with Suzuki’s signature moment.
