Wake Up With Manny Machado Making One Of The Best Plays Of His Career

When you go back through Manny Machado's career you have quite a few different jaw dropping plays to choose from. Foul ground vs the Yankees, a handful of plays against the Angels, and pick any Orioles game from 2012-2018 and you'll find a barehanded Manny play. This is a play that literally made me jump out of my seat and scream. You won't find many other 20 year olds who are in their rookie year at a new position show off his baseball IQ and make this play. To know that he can't get Longoria at first because it was a slow dribbler and that the runner would be taking a wide turn around third, fake the throw to first and catch the other runner slipping? And how about J.J. Hardy knowing to cover third? That was Buck Showatler baseball, great defense. They get him in a rundown and eventually put the tag on him, and I believe the Orioles walked off this game too. Again, Manny Machado was like a month into his MLB career playing a brand new position and knew exactly where everyone was and what to do. You simply can not teach plays like this, and that's what makes him so good. 

PS. The call by Gary Thorne may be better than the play. "Don't throw it away, DON'T THROW IT AT ALL!". What a call. And how about Jim Palmer audibly moaning when he realizes what Manny is doing. If you can make the only pitcher in MLB history to win a World Series game in 3 different decades make that noise, you're doing something right.