Mark Sanchez may be off the hook after the Jonathan Villar butt slide into Brandon Phillips last night.
You may recall from last Thanksgiving in front of a national NFL audience, the Jets QB ran into his own lineman’s butt in the second quarter and fumbled the ball. New England Patriots safety Steve Gregory then picked the ball up and took it to the house, making the score 20-0 Pats at the time. New York wound up losing the game 49-19.
Houston Astros shortstop rookie shortstop Jonathan Villar’s butt slide is perhaps the MLB equivalent to the Sanchez embarrassing butt fumble. With his team already “behind” by four runs in the of the first inning (it was the top rather the “bottom” of the inning, by the way), Villar stroked a line drive into center field. Villar attempted to get a two-base hit out it, but that apparently was a bit too ambitious. He wound up going face first into the rear end Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who tagged him out in a nifty between-the-legs, no-look play.
Deadspin further explains what happened last night at Minute Maid Park: “Without Houston already down four runs in the first inning of what would be a 10-0 loss to Cincinnati, Astros shortstop Jonathan Villar attempted to stretch a single into a double. He was gunned out at second thanks to a good throw from Shin-Soo Choo and a nifty between-the-legs tag from Brandon Phillips, but no one will ever remember the bit players in this tragedy. Just Villar, and Villar’s face, and a butt.”
After the game, Villar told AP that “That’s the way I play. I’m aggressive. I was trying to make something happen, motivate my team. It’s hard to change because that’s the way I’ve always played.”
With the last night’s decision, the Astros (or Ass tros as SB Nation quipped based on the Jonathan Villar butt slide) — who are in their first year in the American League — have lost 100 games, the worse record in baseball for 2013. The team is obviously in last place, i.e., bringing up the rear, in the AL West.
The Astros have one thing going for them. Forbes claims the rebuilding team is the most profitable MLB franchise, although Astros management disputes Forbes’ calculations .
