Cardinals minor leaguer flips bat, breaks out HR trot before realizing he merely flew out

Sam Jarden

Cardinals minor leaguer flips bat, breaks out HR trot before realizing he merely flew out image

Delvin Perez of the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds stepped to the plate in the sixth inning of a game against the Gwinnett Stripers on Thursday. Facing a 1-1 count, he launched one high towards the left field wall, flipped his bat and broke into a home run trot. 

Unfortunately for him, he probably should've made sure it went over the wall first.

Perez had rounded third and was headed for home before he realized the ball had, in fact, been safely caught for an out by the left fielder. Take a look: 

To be fair to the guy, both play-by-play commentators also thought it was on its way out before it apparently got knocked down by a gust of wind. Still, probably wouldn't have hurt to double check at some point while he was rounding the bases.

MORE: Aaron Judge's flyout to warning track fools Fox broadcast

"People who know about this ballpark know that that ball was going out, but obviously the wind knocked it down," Perez said of the blunder, via stlpinchhits.com.

"I’ve batted a lot in this ballpark. From the moment I hit it, I heard the catcher say, 'Oh my God,' and I thought, ‘It’s gone.’”

The ball reportedly left his bat going 107 miles per hour, making it pretty unfortunate that didn't leave the park. 

The lesson here? If you're going to flex after a play, make sure you know exactly what it is you're flexing about. 

Sam Jarden

Sam Jarden Photo

Sam Jarden joined Sporting News as an intern in 2020 and returned as a content producer in 2022. In between, he spent a year and a half at Turner Sports, managing the social media accounts for Bleacher Report, NBA on TNT, NBA TV and others. A proud UNC alumnus, he spends his free time following the Tar Heels, Buffalo Bills and Newcastle United FC, and has been known to occasionally hit the links.