The Milwaukee Brewers were well on their way to a sweep of the Cubs on May 20 when David Hamilton’s RBI single was mishandled by Chicago center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, rolling under his glove and toward the wall, permitting Hamilton to motor all the way around for a “Little League home run.” You know, the kind that’s not officially a home run and requires some bad defense to make it happen.
The three-run play nonetheless provided a big boost in a 5-0 win (as did Hamilton’s first triple of the year, which maybe also could have been caught).
Crow-Armstrong, who also dropped a Sal Frelick fly ball in Game 1 of the series, might be among the best defensive center fielders ever, but he’s had some adventures against the Brewers. Armstrong also straight up dropped a Christian Yelich fly ball in July last year at American Family Field.
Using a Statcast search, which goes back only to 2008, here’s a look at some of the other “home runs” of this variety in recent Brewers history. These aren’t official inside-the-parkers, but you can find a list of those here.
Jackson Chourio (June 18, 2024 at Angels)
A bounder down the right-field line in Anaheim hit the wall at just the right angle to elude outfielder Jo Adell and roll past him into the corner, allowing the rookie Chourio to motor all the way around for a three-run play (and, officially, a two-run double). The Brewers went up, 5-0, and held on to win, 6-3.
Willy Adames (Sept. 9, 2023 at Yankees)
On the day he met his idol, Derek Jeter, at Yankee Stadium, Adames drove in the first run of the game with a triple in the fourth inning, then scored when the throw by DJ LeMahieu to try and nab him at third base sailed. The Brewers went on to win, 9-2.
Omar Narváez (June 4, 2021 vs. Diamondbacks)
It took two errors on the play to turn the catcher’s double into a two-run Little League home run and double Milwaukee’s 2-0 lead, en route to a 5-1 win. The ball was first mishandled in right field, then thrown into the dugout trying to catch the slow-footed catcher, allowing him to trot home.
Trent Grisham (Sept. 19, 2019 vs. Padres)
Before he became known for his own defensive miscue, Grisham was the beneficiary of some bad defense by his future team, doubling to the opposite-field gap and then scoring when a throw by catcher Austin Hedges trying to nab Grisham advancing sailed back into the outfield from whence it came.
Lorenzo Cain (Aug. 1, 2018 at Dodgers)
What a way to kick off a game. On the fourth pitch of the night from Dodgers lefty Rich Hill, Cain hit a low liner that reached the wall in the opposite field, good for a triple. The throw from Brian Dozier skipped away from third baseman Manny Machado and into a camera well, allowing Cain to celebrate as he strolled home with the first run. The Brewers, however, lost on a walk-off homer by Yasmani Grandal in the 10th, 6-4.
Carlos Gómez (May 11, 2015 vs. White Sox)
Gómez already had parked a real homer in the game when he was credited with a triple against Jeff Samardzija leading off the fifth, making it all the way round thanks to a bad throw from a future Brewer, Avisaíl García.
Logan Schafer (May 2, 2015 at Cubs)
The Gómez play wasn’t even the first Little League home run of the month against a Chicago team, and this one was particularly egregious defense. Schafer merely hit a bouncer to shortstop, but Starlin Castro threw low, and Anthony Rizzo couldn’t scoop it. When Rizzo casually trotted over to the Wrigley Field tarp to retrieve the ball, Schafer elected to go for third, prompting a rushed Rizzo throw to the bag with nobody covering. The ball bounced toward the bullpen down the left-field line, and Schafer scored easily. That made it 6-1 Brewers in the ninth, which wound up being the final score.
Jean Segura (July 21, 2014 vs. Reds)
Few players seemed to always be in the middle of baserunning weirdness more than Segura. Segura, the same guy who “stole first” and came across as the third run to score on a wild pitch, tripled in the bottom of the third against Mat Latos and scored on a bad throw by Ramon Santiago trying to nab him at the hot corner. Segura was dealing with serious personal tragedy at the time.
Carlos Gómez (June 12, 2013 at Marlins)
This play plated four runs. With the Brewers already ahead 6-0, Gómez cleared the bases with one of his two triples in the game (and third of the series) off Edgar Olmos, and Derek Dietrich’s errant relay throw ended up in the stands to give Go-Go a chance to come all the way round. Gómez finished 4 for 5 with three RBIs as Milwaukee won, 10-1.
Jean Segura (June 7, 2013 vs. Phillies)
Just five days before Gómez turned the feat, Segura had one too, against an elite pitcher in left-hander Cliff Lee, no less. It also tied the game in the seventh, with the Brewers prevailing in extras, 5-4. Segura’s triple plated a run, and when the throw home by Freddy Galvis trying to nab Nori Aoki bounded away from future Brewers catcher Erik Kratz, Segura trotted across to knot the score at 4-4. Segura would score the winning run, too, crossing on a single by Aramis Ramírez in the 10th.
Ryan Braun (Aug. 26, 2011 vs. Cubs)
The Brewers were trailing, 2-1, but Braun doubled to right field to score Corey Hart, and both Braun and baserunner Nyjer Morgan scored as well when infielder Darwin Barney uncorked a bad throw to third base. Barney already had made an error in the inning, not touching first base to retire Morgan on a sacrifice bunt. The Brewers took the lead on the play and won the game, 5-2. It was part of an amazing month of baseball, when the Brewers won 21 games that August.
Ryan Braun (May 22, 2011 vs. Rockies)
The previous was Braun’s second Little League home run of the season. Braun’s triple against Colorado starter Ubaldo Jiménez plated two runs, and when Braun scored on a bad throw from the outfield, the Brewers took a 3-1 lead in the third and held on to keep that score for the victory. Jiménez allowed just two hits in eight innings, but Randy Wolf and relievers allowed only four in the low-scoring win.
Corey Hart (June 26, 2010 vs. Mariners)
Hart’s double against Doug Fister plated two runs, including pitcher Randy Wolf, who had doubled himself. But with the Mariners trying to throw out Rickie Weeks at the plate, Seattle catcher Rob Johnson and Weeks collided (remember those?), and the ball squirted away. Fister, in his first start back from the disabled list, picked up the ball and tried to nab Hart going for third, but the ball got away, and Hart came home with a headfirst slide. Prince Fielder then followed with a solo homer to make it 4-2. However, Mariners reliever Brian Sweeney threw four scoreless innings of relief in his first big-league appearance since 2006, and the Mariners rallied to win, 5-4.
Ryan Braun (June 30, 2009 vs. Mets)
Ryan Braun doubled in three runs against Mets star Johan Santana, then scored on a Santana error for a Little League grand slam. Pitcher Mike Burns had walked and scored on the play; Burns went on to get his first major league victory in the 6-3 triumph.
Jason Kendall (June 24, 2009 vs. Twins)
This one was about as game-changing as it gets. Kendall narrowly missed a go-ahead homer off the top of the wall with two outs in the eighth with his team facing a 3-2 deficit, but it was enough to get J.J. Hardy around to score a tying run. Kendall moved to third when Brendan Harris’ throw back to the infield wasn’t handled cleanly by Twins catcher Joe Mauer, and then pitcher Paul Blackburn made things worse when he picked up the loose baseball and tried to throw out Kendall at third, with the ball sailing into left field and Kendall scoring a go-ahead run in what became a 4-3 win.
Ryan Braun (Sept. 23, 2008 vs. Pirates)
What you probably remember from the game is the Prince Fielder two-run walk-off homer, the first of three must-wins against Pittsburgh in the final stretch of the 2008 season (with Braun’s walk-off grand slam capping the series two nights later). But the scoring began with a Braun triple in the first inning against Jeff Karstens, and he came around to score to make it 2-0 when Nate McLouth was charged with an error on his throw from center. The Brewers lost that lead but won the game, 7-5, to kick off a magical final week of the season.
Three others from Brewers history worth noting
Ryan Braun falls down (Aug. 31, 2011 vs. Cardinals)
This one wouldn’t have been a Little League home run but rather a legit inside-the-parker. The Little League antics came when Braun fell rounding third and wound up with merely an RBI triple and an out on the basepaths.
Mark Brouhard in the ALCS (Oct. 9, 1982 vs. Angels)
Mark Brouhard played in exactly one postseason game in 1982, filling in for the injured Gorman Thomas in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against California. And what a game it was.
Brouhard went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double — and his single might have been the most adventurous of the three. His second-inning grounder wound up scoring three runs, Brouhard included, when the Angels committed two errors on the play. That spotted the Brewers a 3-0 lead, but the edge was down to 7-5 in the eighth when Brouhard took Dave Goltz deep for a two-run blast that all but ensured the Brewers would be back the next night for Game 5.
Eduardo Rodríguez’s triple (Sept. 3, 1973 vs. Cleveland)
In his lone major league at-bat, coming in the year that the American League had adopted the designated hitter, the right-hander Rodríguez was sent to the plate anyway and tripled. He ran through a stop sign intended to keep him at second base, coaxing an errant throw to third that allowed him to score on the play in Milwaukee’s 13-5 win.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: A catalog of Brewers ‘Little League home runs’ in recent history
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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