MLB Baseball Player Gets Hit, Jumps Up and Ends Up Cartwheeling

This article was last updated on October 17, 2023

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A Momentary Flashback

For a moment, Major League Baseball baseball player Adolis Garcia felt seven years old again in the streets of Ciego de Ávila, Cuba. Only now the 30-year-old Cuban was in the batter’s box of the immense Houston Astros stadium and in one of the most important games of the season during the Texas Rangers play-offs against the Astros.

Thrown Off Balance

On the mound opposite him is Framber Valdez, an imposing 250-pound Dominican pitcher with a throwing arm that can easily reach 90 miles per hour. However, that throwing arm is not always accurate. Not even now.

Batter Garcia sees the ball rushing towards him, far below his strike zone. He jumps, but can’t avoid being hit on the inside of his foot.

The Unexpected Reaction

And then the Cuban street kid in him emerges. No angry response to the mound. No face contorted in pain either. No, Garcia just threw a cartwheel.

Celebrating Against the Odds

Garcia’s cheerful cartwheel is exemplary of the Rangers’ state of mind these playoffs. There has rarely been anything to celebrate at the club, which was owned by later President George W. Bush between 1984 and 1991.

The Rangers reached the World Series twice (2010 and 2011), but they never won. They last played in the playoffs in 2012. Two years ago, the Rangers even recorded their worst season in 50 years with 60 wins and 102 losses.

A Remarkable Season

But this season everything is different. In the regular competition, the Rangers just missed out on the division win: the mutual result was the Houston Astros (both 90 wins) even slightly better.

It didn’t bother the Rangers: they won 2-0 against the favorite Tampa Bay Rays, and 3-0 against the even more favorite Baltimore Orioles (by far the best team in the American League).

And also in the head-to-head battle with rival (and defending champion) Houston Astros, the Rangers are still undefeated in the semi-finals of the playoffs.

The Rangers’ Triumph

When Garcia did his cartwheel in the second inning last night in Houston, the Rangers were already up 4-0. Ultimately, the home team came back to 5-4, but the Rangers did not let it go any further.

The first game in Houston was also won 2-0 by the Rangers, who can now play three times at home in Arlington.

Bryce Harper’s Birthday Present

There is also a clear favorite in the battle for the title in the National League. It is not without reason that the Philadelphia Phillies were in the World Series last year (which they lost to the Astros).

Especially after the Phillies had defeated the strong Atlanta Braves (of Curaçaoan Ozzie Albies) in the previous round, the team is considered the favorite against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies won the first game 5-3 in their own stadium.

One of the Phillies’ big stars immediately made his mark in Philadelphia: Bryce Harper already hit three home runs in these playoffs and did so again in the opening game against the Diamondbacks.

A Birthday to Remember

The special thing about this home run? Harper hit it on his 31st birthday.

The Disappointment of the Mets

2023 was supposed to be the year of the New York Mets. It was not without reason that New York’s second club had the two highest-paid players in the Major League under contract this spring.

Max Scherzer (two more years) and Justin Verlander (three years) both received 43.3 million dollars (approximately 41 million euros) deposited into their bank accounts. However, the Mets did not prove to be an invincible machine and when the playoffs were out of sight, the club quickly got rid of the two big earners.

Scherzer ended up at Texas Rangers, the club that had also attracted the Mets’ third megastar, Jacob DeGrom, at the beginning of the year. Verlander was picked up by the Houston Astros.