OT - Calvin College player has walk off steal of home
Calvin College basebal team played Albion College last weekend, and won their game on a walk off steal of home. This has been getting some national pub on MLB Fancave, Barstool Sports, Bleacher report, and is rumored to be on Olbermann tonight on ESPN2. As an alum of Calvin College this is some pretty cool publicity for the school, and the whole west side of the state in general.
I linked the video to this post (dont know how to embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQN5rXG7o60
As an Albion alum I find this sad and depressing. The worst even. But at least it wasn't to Hope. Or Trine.
Go Dutch!
April 15th, 2014 at 10:27 PM ^
You never want to lose to Hope at anything. Who could forget that slimeball of a basketball coach they had for 30 plus years.
April 15th, 2014 at 11:58 PM ^
Why a slimeball?
April 15th, 2014 at 10:43 PM ^
My cousin nearly set the MIAA record for ERA with Hope back in the day. 6' 4" and plenty of heat.
A fellow Albion alum! There's at least three of us on Mgoblog!
April 16th, 2014 at 10:31 AM ^
Go Brits! Class of '06 here
April 16th, 2014 at 10:59 AM ^
Is that you?
April 16th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^
Class of 06 here as well. Greek?
I'm class of 2006, as well.
That was a pretty nice play but at the end of the day he still goes to Calvin
Was his name Billy Wyatt?
A million fake internets to anyone that gets this obscure movie reference with a Michigan connection.
Jodie Foster was hot as hell back in the 80's
Love that flick even though the critics decidedly thought otherwise.
Goodnight Mrs Parks!!!!!!
As far as I'm concerned, Robin Parks is a complete slut!
More Calvin alums on the board! Pretty cool play. I played with quite a few guys on the team and they're all really pumped about the publicity this is getting. Hopefully it will kick start the second half of their season and they can end Adrian's 5 year run as MIAA champs.
Go Knights!
Go Bulldogs!
Born and raised in GR and not being Dutch is the biggest blessing I've had in life.
Easy on disparaging the Dutch. We are everywhere.
Less than you think. Most sheltered people here think the Dutch is the only ethnic group in the US.
April 15th, 2014 at 10:02 PM ^
You ain't dutch? You ain't much.
Woah! There's only 2 things I can't stand in this world. Those who are inconsiderate of other peoples cultures ... and the Dutch.
Is a death sentence.
April 16th, 2014 at 10:40 AM ^
I live just outside GR and I really don't like the Dutch.
Of course, I am Dutch, so I've got a nice inside view of just how horrible we can be.
Woo, go Knights!!!
The Jet's got a suicide lead and...
How many people get this reference?
You arent a baseball fan if you dont get this reference
Me and my PF Flyers do.
April 15th, 2014 at 10:06 PM ^
I actually bought a pair of those about a year ago. They don't make you run faster or jump higher, but they do make you feel a bit younger.
April 15th, 2014 at 10:59 PM ^
No, but statisticians proved they caused my hot streak.
You're killing me Smalls
April 15th, 2014 at 10:04 PM ^
Is that your sister out there in left field, naked? She's naked?
April 16th, 2014 at 12:12 AM ^
But while checking to see if the runner would have been safe if the catcher had caught the ball (@15 seconds, he would have been safe), I noticed the left fielder was scratching his nuts.
For all of the sporting world to see! Ha ha.
You're killing me, Smalls.
My ex went to Albion. Fuck Albion
April 15th, 2014 at 10:31 PM ^
It sounds like you already did. Shazamm!
cool play being from the area, but not sure how that catcher didn't see that kid walking down the line.. surprised he didn't look him back to the bag for such a big lead..
Not sure how strong his arm is, but he could of easily snap threw back to 3rd and got the kid out, but it would of been a big risk.. Game of chances
April 16th, 2014 at 12:23 AM ^
almost surely that's what the runner noticed during previous pitches. The runner starts heading home as the catcher is on his knees starting his non-chalant throw back to the pitcher. (Al Kaline would have said he non-chalants it. My late father hated that butchering of the language.)
Anybody know how many outs there were? That's a smart play with two outs. Nobody out and nobody on 2nd & 3rd, not so much.
Trailing 2-0, Calvin loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Then, with two outs, two more walks tied the game before the steal of home to win it. This is from the Calvin recap:
In game two, four Knight errors led to two Albion runs, allowing the Britons to take a 2-0 lead. The score remained that way until the bottom of the seventh.
In the seventh, Calvin loaded the bases with two out. Walks to sophomore Travis Kraai (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Matt Schepel allowed the Knights to tie the ball game up at two runs apiece.
With junior Peter Cupery (Holland/Holland Christian HS) at the plate, the Britons were caught off guard when Van Putten stole home on a throw back from the Albion catcher to the pitcher. Van Putten was safe, and the Knights went home victorious, 3-2.
"Grant has done that before (stolen home) and he had the green light to go," said Calvin head coach John Sparks. "He timed it perfectly and made a huge play. With his speed, he can create a lot of havoc on the basepaths."
The steal of home was Van Putten's 22nd stolen base of the year on 24 attempts. He is currently ranked third nationally in stolen bases per-game. He is one shy of matching his own Calvin single-season record of 23 steals set a year ago. In addition, he is the Calvin career leader in stolen bases with 66.
Al Kaline has earned the right to turn an adjective into a verb anytime he wants.
April 15th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^
Go Knights
Proud Calvin alum c/o 2013
April 15th, 2014 at 11:14 PM ^
Me too! Class of 2013 represent! Go Knights!
Class of '13 here as well. Nice to see there's more of us. Go Knights!
Same here! Hope the others from our class here that haven't sent a now infamous email to the entire student body are doing well ;)
For the record, it was sent on my behalf, not sent by me.
April 15th, 2014 at 10:09 PM ^
As a current Calvin student who knows many players on the baseball team this is awesome to see the attention my school is getting. The kid has set the record as a sophomore for career steals, and with that steal set the record for steals in a season. He is blazing fast. Averages a steal per game and is like 3rd in the country in steals for D3.
Any chance he plays slot?