Elephant Rumblings: Clarke extends A’s history of dazzling plays in Anaheim

MLB news roundup

Happy Wednesday, Athletics Nation!

Denzel Clarke is being celebrated across baseball for his defensive wizardry in center field. After becoming just the second player to win two consecutive Electric Play of the Week awards, Clarke upped his own ante with an incredible over-the-wall home run robbery in Anaheim on Monday.

Few can readily recall ever witnessing a more spectacular catch than Monday’s, and I’ll be absolutely shocked if this play doesn’t win Clarke his third straight honor.

Jason Burke at SI.com came up with an interesting angle on this story, noting that the A’s have a history of making phenomenal defensive plays at Angel Stadium.

The first that came to my mind was among the three plays Burke highlighted: the putout-assist double play made by Ramón Laureano in 2018.

This incredible effort was named the most exciting play of the year on MLB.com. Here we see Ramón range 76 feet to make the catch on a fly ball from Justin Upton—a feat in itself—and then throw a perfect 321-foot strike to Matt Olson at first base to double up on Eric Young Jr.

Which play is more magnificent? Both would make my top five if not top three. Clarke’s leap is clearly the most impressive display of raw physical ability, but I’d give Laureano bonus points for pulling off such a flawless combo move. To make the catch and then quickly reverse his momentum to make such a strong and accurate throw was truly jaw-dropping. Honestly, I’d call it a tie.

The third play that Burke recalled was this “throw of the year” by Yoenis Céspedes from left field in 2014.

This play is incredible, but it wouldn’t have happened if Céspedes hadn’t bobbled the ball in the first place. I’m inclined to dock points for that and hang the bronze medal on this one.

Burke also points out that Laureano’s play also depended on Young’s overly aggressive and underly mindful base running—that’s a fair point, and maybe a reasonable tie breaker. But I’m not so sure—one could also say that Ramón deserves extra credit for his own heads-up recognition of Young’s movement while he was executing a difficult catch.

What do you think? Is Clarke’s latest catch the GOAT among spectacular A’s plays, or even the greatest catch of all time? Share your thoughts in the comments!

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Fall To Angels In Extras 2-1
• A’s to hold Las Vegas ballpark groundbreaking event on June 23
• Kelly returns to ‘pen after suspension: ‘It’s exciting to be back’
• A’s Have a Knack For All-Time Defense at Angel Stadium—But Which is the Best?
• Spider-Man strikes AGAIN as Clarke scales wall for ridiculous robbery
• Who gave Clarke the biggest lift toward acrobatic catches? Mom
• Latest Athletics injuries and transactions

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB Power Rankings: Guess who? A new team takes the top spot and we ask some big questions ($)
• Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List
• Tearful parents watch Anthony hit 2-run double for first career knock
• As Terry Francona makes his Cleveland return, the relationships he’s built ‘never change’ ($)
• Roberts: Chance Of Ohtani Pitching Before All-Star Break Is “North Of Zero”
• Rangers To Sign Craig Kimbrel To Minor League Deal
• Former Rockies watch and weep at futility of 2025 team: ‘You have to really start over’ ($)
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Heard someone saying PCA is the best defender in baseball..

Roster moves.

Wilson benched as a precaution.

Lots of free-for-alls at All-Star week this summer