July 21, 2004: A day that will live in Boston Red Sox infamy.
In a meaningless, dog-days-of-summer game between the Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore outfielder David Newhan connected on a Pedro Martinez curveball and sent it to center field at Fenway Park. Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon was unable to make the catch, but tracked the ball down and hurled it to the infield in an attempt to hold Newhan to a triple.
Enter: Manny Ramirez.
In one of the most unintentionally hilarious plays in Major League Baseball history, a diving Ramirez cutoff Damon’s throw before relaying it to Mark Belhorn, who was unable to cut down Newhan at the plate. It’s been nearly 14 years since the play, and yet we still have no idea what Ramirez was thinking.
Refresh your memory by watching the play in the video below:
So, why do we bring this play up, you ask?
Well, Damon recently joined Barstool Sports’ “Starting 9” podcast, and the New York Yankees fan was asked about the infamous cutoff. It’s safe to say Damon still doesn’t understand Ramirez’s thought process, either.
(Warning: The following video contains NSFW language.)
Perhaps someday we’ll learn what Ramirez’s intentions were.
For what it’s worth: The Red Sox wound up losing 10-5 to the Orioles to fall to 51-42 on the season. The 2004 Sox did go on to have a rather successful postseason, though.
