When Collin Balester Fell Down

 

(Man down! Collin Balester landed on his back on Saturday after a botched pick off attempt. Screengrab of TV/MASN by Nationals Enquirer staff.)

Collin Balester had an eventful appearance out of the bullpen on Saturday. His line doesn't even begin to hint at the story: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 WP. And two wild pitches doesn't really qualify as "eventful" or even "odd" considering the source (to be fair, he's been quite good since his September callup). But the sight of Balester spinning and falling and landing on his back on a botched pick off attempt in the top of the eighth inning with the Marlins' Logan Morrison on second base (after one of the wild pitches) instantly becomes one of the oddest/funniest moments the brief history of the Washington Nationals. See video here. 

Here's Balester explaining his moves, via Nationals Journal:

"I don't even know what I did. I just lifted my leg and just flipped on the ground. I don't know. That was the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. ... You hear the whole stadium laughing at you, all you can do is laugh at yourself. I just came back and to gather up again and get back to pitching."
(Collin Balester, via Nationals Journal, 9/11/2010)

A twist on the old saying: "Laugh, and the world laughs with you". "When the stadium laughs at you, laugh." One more pic. Here's Balester's opening move:

 

(Collin Balester going down. Screengrab via TV/MASN.)

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Comments

[JDC]

Go easy on him. CB could have imploded after that but regrouped and got out of the inning relatively painlessly. I still believe Balester will be an important piece outof the bullpen in the next couple years. Curveball seems better since the Sept. call ups.

[Curly W]

Someone yelled Dead Ant!!!!