KANSAS CITY -- We’ll, we’re off with a bang. A big bang, actually, as Alcides Escobar led off the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 of the World Series with a first-pitch inside-the-park home run off of Mets starter Matt Harvey.
But let’s be real about it: it was a ball that should’ve been caught by center fielder Yoenis Cespedes. He didn’t have a good bead on the ball, however -- maybe the mist that’s still spitting around here bugged him? -- and ended up giving it something on olé backhand job. The ball kicked away, Escobar turned on his jets -- and he really was flying -- and it was 1-0 before most people were three sips into their first beer.
The official scorer didn’t give Cespedes an error because no official scorer ever gives a player an error when his mistake is mostly mental and when he doesn’t actually get leather on the ball. But as we’ve said many times around these parts, the kind of play Cespedes put on that ball is just as much an error as a bobble is, even if it’s not ruled that way.
So, per the scorecard, Escobar has an inside-the-parker, the first in World Series since play Mule Haas in 1929. We’ll update with some video once MLB releases it.
As of now it’s 1-0 Royals at the end of two.