ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Earlier this season, Los Angeles Angels right fielder Jo Adell had an incredible night to remember on defense, when he
This time, he was on the wrong end of a play to forget.
Adell misplayed a flyball into a bizarre home run off his head Tuesday, a fielding blunder reminiscent of Jos茅 Canseco’s embarrassing gaffe 33 years ago with the Texas Rangers.
Adell reached up to catch TJ Rumfield’s deep fly for the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning, but the ball grazed the outside of his glove before for a solo homer.
鈥淚 was toward the line and I felt like I had a little bit longer way to go than I normally do on a route like that and just missed it,鈥� Adell told MLB.com. 鈥淚t hit off my hat. I don鈥檛 know if I overran it and took a step over. But it was kind of the icing on the cake because I was (bad) all the way around the whole day today.鈥�
There was brief confusion on the field when the ball caromed off a digital scoreboard above the fence and back into the outfield. Rumfield stopped at second base, initially unsure of the ruling, before proceeding around the bases to give Colorado an 8-0 lead on the way to
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things where how it happened looks crazy,鈥� said Adell, who also went 0 for 4 at the plate with two strikeouts. 鈥淚t looks like I鈥檝e never played in the field before, which is disappointing, because it鈥檚 beyond the truth. But it is what it is. I鈥檓 the only one that really knows what happened. I was out there, and it happened to me, so it is what it is. I鈥檝e got to just keep going, and as a team, we鈥檝e got to keep going.鈥�
It was similar to , when Canseco lost track of a long drive hit by Cleveland’s Carlos Mart铆nez. The ball bounced off Canseco’s head and over the right-field wall for a home run.
Rumfield’s gift homer ended the night for Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who gave up three homers and eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.
The play also stood in stark contrast to some of Adell’s fielding exploits this season, including that April game in which he stole three would-be homers from the Mariners 鈥� including one in the ninth inning 鈥� to preserve a 1-0 victory for the Angels.
After that one, former Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter, now a special assistant to the general manager for the Angels, said Adell had 鈥減robably the greatest defensive game I鈥檝e ever seen.鈥�
鈥淗e robbed three homers in one night this year, so it鈥檚 baseball, and it鈥檚 a crazy game,鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淭hings happen. Obviously, he didn鈥檛 do that on purpose. All you can do is really just move on.鈥�
Adell struggled at times with fielding early in his major league career, including a play during the 2020 season when a deep drive by Rangers outfielder Nick Solak bounced out of Adell’s glove for what was ruled . But Adell has had far more fielding highlights than lowlights since, and he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2024.
鈥淛o鈥檚 made great strides defensively from when I played with him,鈥� Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. 鈥淎nd obviously, he had the night he robbed three home runs. So I look back at the strides that he鈥檚 made defensively. It was a tough play tonight, but at the same time, the strides that he鈥檚 made defensively have been great.鈥�
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