There aren’t many plays in baseball that are more exciting than an inside-the-park home run. So much needs to go in the batter’s favor just to make it possible. That couldn’t have been more true for Rays outfielder Luke Raley.
He had himself one of the wilder inside-the-park home runs we’ll ever see.
Batting for Jose Siri in the sixth inning, Raley turned on first-pitch slider from Ross Stripling that narrowly stayed in play off the brick wall to right-center field at Oracle Park. As close as that ball was to leaving the park on the fly, it didn’t matter because Raley benefited from an absolutely preposterous bounce.
🚨INSIDE-THE-PARK HOME RUN ALERT🚨 pic.twitter.com/piGtsMeRXS
— Bally Sports Sun: Rays (@BallyRays) August 16, 2023
The ball ricocheted off that brick wall and bounced perfectly on top of the separate padded wall in center field. It then continued towards left field as Wade Meckler and Michael Conforto helplessly chased after the ball.
Now, Raley might not be Bobby Witt Jr. on the base path, but he’s a very capable runner. He ranks in the 86th percentile in sprint speed this season, and that was more than enough to cruise around the bases and score standing up.
You could give Raley a million tries, and he’ll probably never get a bounce off the wall like that again. No wonder MLB fans were stunned.
This was how Twitter reacted
2 feet from a conventional home run, then 1 inch from a conventional home run, then a ricochet across half the outfield. Incredible. https://t.co/EORFGDhpzh
— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) August 16, 2023
I need the Jon Miller call of this because what the absolute heck https://t.co/s5JU1Tu8sS
— Bryan Del Fava (@notthefakeBDF) August 16, 2023
idk if the Giants can mentally come back from this https://t.co/0eQV7xkNrN
— Kaz (@thekrazymaN_) August 16, 2023
I’ve never seen the ball bounce like that out there lol https://t.co/aS4yuu3m2e
— Jonny's Lasagna ⚾️ (@JLasagna43) August 16, 2023
This might be one of the strangest bounces I've ever seen 🤯 https://t.co/Hv5OldZaow
— Trey (@Trey3O) August 16, 2023
THE BOUNCE THE BALL JUST TOOK IS INSANNNE https://t.co/3Lqbn1UEzx
— alexa™ (@whisperrjosephh) August 16, 2023
talk about an over bounce https://t.co/Hg4Q5NTedL
— Betting Benny (@3rdAndBen) August 16, 2023
Wow that was a wild redirection https://t.co/E257EN0WcY
— Austin (@ScriberNYY) August 16, 2023
The rare not-even-close-to-an-error stand up inside the park HR https://t.co/HjDhEhxFVS
— Mike Phillips (@Mikey_Phillips) August 16, 2023
Had the ball gone over the fence after hitting the wall, instead of hitting the top of the fence, would it be a homer or ground rule double?
Also, what a helpless feeling as an outfielder lol https://t.co/5VvemQchgm
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) August 16, 2023
Been watching ball at PacBell/SBC/AT&T/Oracle Park since I was 5. That’s the wonkiest arcade bounce yet by far https://t.co/QtNPpmOcqm
— Jackson Roberts (@jrobertsbsbl) August 16, 2023
They could do this a thousand times and there is no way that bounce happens again. https://t.co/2DRIjjXkh1
— folzybear (@folzyfantasy15) August 16, 2023
You really can see something new in any baseball game.
