Cardinals’ minor leaguer rounds bases on fly out: ‘That ball was going out’

The phrase, “Act like you’ve been there before” has never been more appropriate. 

Thursday night in Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis Cardinals minor league infielder Delvin Perez had an embarrassing moment against the Gwinnett Stripers, the Atlanta Braves Triple-A affiliate. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Perez launched a 1-1 slider high into the left field. As soon as Perez connected, Perez began to “pimp” what he thought was a home run, flipping his bat as he began rounding the bases. 

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The problem? Perez flew out to left field for the first out of the sixth inning. 

Thinking he had hit a long home run, Perez put his head down and got halfway to home plate before realizing that he had hit a routine fly ball. 

“When I got to home plate, the guys were saying, ‘That didn’t go out.’ And I started thinking, ‘I don’t believe it,'” Perez said in Spanish, according to STL Pinch Hits. 

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With the wind blowing in, Perez’s reported 107 MPH shot to left was knocked down, easily landing in the left fielder’s glove at the warning track. 

“People who know about this ballpark know that that ball was going out, but obviously the wind knocked it down,” he said. “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.’”

Perez, who was elected in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Cardinals, is hitting .226 with 5 home runs and 33 RBIs in 292 at-bats with the Memphis Redbirds. 

“Everyone was laughing and just saying, ‘Wow,’ like nobody could believe it,” Perez said. “It was 107 (mph) off the bat. 107 has to leave. It’s obligated to. And those who understand know that the wind knocked it down.”