All Things Bubba

You know what I mean. The kind of play that makes everyone in the room (or in the game thread) go, "Holy (bleep)!!!! BUBBA!!!!!"

So here they are...

#10   September 3, 2006 - Bubba Robs Rabelo, Part 1. Bubba makes a beautiful play in CF.

#9   September 4, 2006 - Bubba Robs Rabelo, Part 2. The very next day, Bubba gets a great jump and robs him again.

#8   March 26, 2006 - Bubba homers off Zumaya. The funny thing was the Detroit announcers. They were so busy gushing about what a stud Joel Zumaya is that they barely mentioned what was happening on the field. Until Bubba hit a two-run homerun off him. It was the go-ahead and game-winning hit, pinning Zumaya with the loss.

#7   August 23, 2006 - Bubba hits a two-run homer for the Clippers, a "screaming liner" over the right field fence. He had a great game overall: 2 for 5, 2 runs scored, 1 home run, 2 RBI. He also made a nice play in RF, getting a great jump, holding the runners on and preserving the Clippers' lead. He finally won the game in extra innings, hitting a line drive to right, moving to 2B on a T-Long single, then using his great speed to score the winning run from 2B on a Bronson Sardinha hit. (Bubba kept Louisville Bats right fielder Chris Denorfia busy all night. His homerun went over Denorfia's head, his single was to RF, and his game-winning run was scored just ahead of Denorfia's throw home. Yes, the same Denorfia who is now his teammate!)

#6   May 13, 2006 - Bubba comes in as a LIDR for Melky Cabrera at the top of the 8th, and makes Torre look brilliant when he makes this nice catch. Not as flashy as some he's made, but it turned out to be key. It was the second out, and Scott Proctor would later give up a walk and a single before the end of the inning, so Bubba likely saved at least one run with his glove. The Yankees ended up winning 4-3, so this play may have been the game. And Melky wouldn't have made it.

#5   May 11, 2006 - Grand theft Bubba! Bubba robs Mike Lowell of a two-run homer. It's always sweeter when it's against the Red Sox.

#4   May 15, 2006 - A classic Bubba circus catch. In the words of Mike Mussina: "You can't make a better play than that. It turns a double and guys running all over the place into a sac fly."

#3 & #2   April 26, 2006 - Bubba made two great plays in this game, one a diving grab, the other one of his crashing-off-the-wall specials. He also had a pretty good night at the plate, going 1 for 2 with a walk, a stolen base, and a sacrifice bunt. Though the Yanks ended up losing 2-4, Bubba was chosen Player of the Game.

#1   July 14, 2006 - Mariano Rivera took the mound with a three-run lead in the 9th...and promptly gave up three singles, loading the bases with no outs. It looked like the game was slipping away. It was Bubba to the rescue, with this great play. Bubba's catch was chosen as the #2 WebGem on ESPN's Baseball Tonight - beaten out only by a diving catch by Coco Crisp. (While Bubba's play may have won the game for the Yanks, Crisp's only kept a 15-3 loss for the Sox from being even worse.)


Happy New Year, all! Here's to lots more HSB moments in the coming year.

Labels: Happy New Year