Ole Miss turns botched intentional walk into walk-off homer

Apr 4, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; General view of a pile of baseballs before the opening day baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

You know how people sometimes say that when you walk someone intentionally they should just get to take first without having to go through the whole procedure of actually throwing the four pitches?

This is why those people are wrong.

This happened at a game between Ole Miss and Auburn Friday night. Auburn wants to intentionally walk a batter in the 12th inning, but the pitcher misses a sign. Result: Auburn sadness.

The key thing here is that the batter doesn’t relax. The batter is ready for whatever happens. So when the ball goes over the plate, he’s all over it.

Lesson for all you young ballplayers out there: never assume.

Also, a lesson for people who want intentional walks to be given without the four pitches being thrown.

Make the team execute the walk. Sure, the vast majority of the time, nothing will happen. But every now and then something crazy will happen.

Don’t eliminate crazy variables from the game just because they rarely figure. The rarely-figuring variables are what make sports fun.

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