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Sports

Adrian Beltre Taken to His Knee by Eephus Pitch

Red Sox pitcher Fernando Abad completely fooled Beltre with a 61 MPH pitch.
Screencapture via MLB.com

Adrian Beltre is one of the more colorful players in Major League Baseball. Though he's likely to get into the Hall of Fame as one of the best hitting and fielding third basemen in baseball, he is perhaps known more for his quirks, which include absolutely despising being touched on the head and a funky swing every once in a while where he goes down on one knee for a ball out of the zone and smokes it for a home run. Last night, against Boston's Fernando Abad, Beltre went to his knee again, but had nothing to offer after that.

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This wasn't a 12-6 curve ball like the one he hit against the Athletics a few years ago. This was an eephus pitch, the off-speed pitch of off-speed pitches. You don't generally see 61 MPH pitches in the big leagues, and if you do, hitters generally look like the Gas-House Gorillas trying to hit off Bugs Bunny. We commonly talk about a filthy breaking pitch or off-speed pitch buckling a hitter's knee, but it doesn't actually buckle all the way. Beltre was so crossed up his knee buckled and he looked shocked at what just happened.

Abad has gone to the eephus successfully before. Last month, he ended the eighth inning with a 60 MPH pitch to strike out Baltimore's Jonathan Schoop. The Orioles were up 7-1 at the time, and then won the game 7-5. And perhaps therein lies the rub: the Rangers still beat the Red Sox, 8-2.

[MLB]