Flashback Friday: George Bell’s Bizarre Pop Up

In baseball, there are several different ways for a batter to be retired; many of them are the conventional way to be declared an “out”, but this is perhaps the most unconventional and unique out I’ve ever seen.

This week’s Flashback Friday takes a look back at George Bell’s bizarre pop up from August 13th, 1986. Bell faced Mike Boddicker of the Baltimore Orioles, and even though he ducked out of the way from an errant pitch, Bell could not avoid getting out.

Officially scored as a “foul fly ball to C”,  it really was a freak play; had it not been for the ball hitting George Bell’s bat, that ball would’ve gone to the backstop and allowed the runners to move up a base.

I’ve never seen a play like that in my lifetime, and we might not ever see one like it ever again.

Afterwards, George Bell understandably just stood in the box in disbelief while Lloyd Moseby was flabbergasted at how his teammate was declared out by not even swinging at a pitch that was a foot outside the strike zone.

Image courtesy of Mitchell Layton Getty Images Sport