The Indians may have had the worst defense in all of baseball this season, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t moments of excellence. In fact, there were more than 80 plays designated as especially impressive and those plays have been whittled down to the best ten plays of the year. Of course, completely throwing away some of the plays that didn’t quite make the cut is no fun, so they are interspersed in the top ten as links for those who need just a little more D in their lives.
10. May 20th – It’s Just a Slive to the Right – Lonnie Chisenhall
We’ll get things started with a nice play at third by Lonnie Chisenhall, who despite being known as a poor defender, actually has very quick reflexes. On this, he needed to start moving as the swing began to rob Torii Hunter of a line drive double down the left field line. Chisenhall used a combination dive and slide (a slive) to make the play on this ball that was ripped off Byran Shaw in the eighth inning.
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9. June 17th – Shift Work – Jason Kipnis
Infield shifts have been around at least since the 1940’s, but there likely hasn’t been a season that they were more commented on than this year since then. Often, it was complaints about how they didn’t work, but in this case, a play that would normally be made by the short stop was actually made by the second baseman. With the whole infield playing to the left for the pull happy Albert Pujols, Kipnis made this diving play to his right, got up and threw out the All-Star at first for the second out in the fifth.
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8. April 4th – That Kid in Left is Pretty Good – Michael Brantley
Michael Brantley threw out 12 base runners from the outfield this season (fourth in the AL), but we can’t feature all twelve. There is one more special one included later on in the countdown, but for now, your love for Brantley’s arm will have to be satiated with this one play. In the second inning against the Twins, the Indians were already down two with the Twins looking for more. There were two outs, but two runners on and when Brian Dozier singled to left, it looked as if they would increase their lead. It could have happened this way, if not for Danny Salazar‘s little helper in left. Brantley fielded the single, threw to home and caught Kurt Suzuki for the final out, without Yan Gomes even needing to block the plate. The Twins wouldn’t score again as the Indians went on to win 7-2.
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7. June 4th – Kipnis with the Jeter – Jason Kipnis
With Derek Jeter retiring, someone will have to take on the legacy of the jump throw that the Yankee short stop made popular, and that person could be Jason Kipnis. All kidding aside, this was an impressive play by Kipnis, who ranged far to his right to snag the ball and quickly jumped and put everything on his throw to first to catch Boston’s Brock Holt and end the inning for Corey Kluber.
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Thanks to the magic of photo shop, we also have this play as if he were wearing red.
6. April 8th – Super Santana Saves the Day – Carlos Santana
While Carlos Santana’s tenure at third base did not last long, it was not without highlights. A trio of them happened on May 7th and can be seen here, but the best one happened about a month before. On April 8th, the Padres had base runners at second and third while the Indians maintained a tenuous two run lead. With no one out in the fourth, Wil Venable came to the plate and was fooled by a pitch to the outside of the plate by Corey Kluber (who wasn’t fooled by Kluber this year), popping the ball up about 40 feet from home plate. After holding the runner on third, Santana ran onto the grass on the infield and made a near full dive to grab the ball on the fly, keeping the runners in place.
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5. July 27th – A Dive Will Do Ya – Nick Swisher
The Indians had some fantastic outfielders this year, despite the poor overall defense. Of the plethora of outfielders used, almost every single one had a full extension dive worth noting. In fact, this entire list could be made of great dives, but that would be rather repetitive. Instead, for those who enjoy seeing grown men dive onto grass, the top ten dives this year are as follows in reverse order: Chris Dickerson on July 23rd, Michael Bourn on August 26th, David Murphy on June 9th, Michael Brantley on June 25th, Tyler Holt on July 23rd, Dickerson again on July 30th, Holt again on August 13th (Game 2), Bourn again on September 6th and Ryan Raburn on June 28th. All of these are fantastic feats of athleticism and if you have the time, I highly recommend watching them all.
The number one dive may not have been the most impressive athletically, but it was one of the most surprising. Against the Royals, Nick Swisher caught this ball for the first out in the second inning, taking at least a double away from Salvador Perez. Considering the amount of money he was paid for 2014, this play has to have been worth at least a few million.
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4. May 27th – Robbing A Poor Old Man – Michael Bourn
The Indians may have given Paul Konerko a guitar as a retirement gift in recognition for his impressive career with the White Sox, but before that, Michael Bourn took something away. Konerko hit 434 home runs in his illustrious career prior to this season, but knew he would be relegated to a platoon situation even before the season started. To make matters worse, Konerko dealt with injuries that shortened his playing time. In the end, he hit just five home runs on the year and this was not one of them.
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3. May 3rd – A Swisher Finisher – Nick Swisher
Justin Masterson had been solid into the fifth inning in this game against Chicago, but held just a tentative one run lead with the bases loaded and one out. On a 1-0 count, Marcus Semien ripped a line shot down the first base line and Nick Swisher was just able to pick it before it hit the ground with a nice dive to his left. Once securing the ball, he easily tagged first to retire Tyler Flowers, who was running on the hit, to end the inning. Interestingly enough, it was a Semien error that allowed the first Indians run of the game to score.
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If you liked that play, make sure to check out a very similar one by Carlos Santana, where he also saved Masterson at least a couple runs against the Yankees.
2. August 13th, Game 2 – Raburn Does Something Right – Ryan Raburn
There have been quite a few times this year Indians fans have been disappointed with Ryan Raburn, both at the plate and in right field, but even he had his moment in the sun. With the speedy Ender Inciarte on second base, Raburn ran to the right field corner and made this amazing flying catch to save a run in a scoreless game. While the Indians would go on to lose in the 12th inning, it was this incredible play that kept them in it as long as they were.
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1. July 1st – Double Your Replays, Triple Your Fun – Brantley & Gomes
The Indians came into the fourth inning in Los Angeles with a 5-2 lead, but Justin Masterson gave up a double to pitcher Josh Beckett and hits to Dee Gordon and Yasiel Puig to add another run. With runners on first and third, Terry Francona entrusted rookie left hander Kyle Crockett to retire Adrian Gonzalez. On a 1-2 pitch, Crockett got Gonzalez to fly out to short left, after which Michael Brantley threw home to nab the speedy Gordon at the plate. Looking to take advantage of the distraction, Puig went to take an extra base at second. Puig was called safe, by Francona challenged the play and it was reversed. With the inning then over, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly challenged the play at the plate and it was upheld. This marked the first time that two managers called for a replay challenge on the same play since replay was instituted and the only Indians triple play of the season.
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Bonus Play: August 12th – The Play that Never Happened
Watching this play could result in time paradox as it never happened. Tyler Holt never dove in from right to rob Cliff Pennington and end the inning for T.J. House. None of it ever existed. Just ask the umpires who decided to replay the entire game the next day as a double header rather than continuing from when the game was delayed. Watch at your own risk, this video does not exist.
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