Detroit Tigers: When Baseballs and Food Collide

The Detroit Tigers finished off an entertaining and impressive sweep of the Houston Astros last night. Just moments before the tense conclusion to that series, Chicago White Sox hurler Carlos Rodón completed the second no-hitter of the young season.

Earlier in the day Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes became the first pitcher since 1906 to strike out 30 batters and walk no one in his first three starts of the season. It was a great day for baseball!

But the best thing that happened was this:

https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1382533959112790019?s=20

Roughly 66 million years ago a large asteroid crashed into Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. That collision liquefied the ground and triggered earthquakes, megatsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

It sent plumes of debris into the atmosphere that then fell back to Earth like millions of flaming knives, broiling the air and sparking wildfires across the globe. It killed 75% of all life on the planet, paving the way for mammals to invent baseball.

That impact was only slightly more devastating than what Justin Turner’s home run did to those nachos.

We love nachos at Motor City Bengals, and we hate to see any harm befall them. But there is something incredibly entertaining about seeing the worlds of baseball and food collide.

Baseball is a fabulous spectator sport. There are dozens of different ways to make fans boo, or cheer, or scream with enjoyment. But there’s only one way to make an entire stadium yell “aooohhh” like an outraged mob boss:

Last night’s nacho mishap led us to recall some of our favorite food-related incidents. Not all of them will be so tragic, and not all will involve Detroit Tigers players, but they all make us smile. And we’re sticking with video evidence, so no discussion of Spencer Torkelson’s can of beans, or the epic Gates Brown hot dog incident.

Let’s begin with an iconic Detroit Tigers food moment…

Detroit Tigers Food Collision: Prince Fielder and the Nachos

On September 19, 2013 the Detroit Tigers held a six-game lead in the American League Central. Doug Fister was on the mound against the Seattle Mariners, pitching to rookie backstop Mike Zunino. The young catcher popped up a 1-2 slider, but Prince Fielder took a circuitous route to the ball and it fell harmlessly in foul territory. Fielder’s momentum carried him to the stands, where he seized the opportunity to pilfer a fan’s nachos.

In addition to reinforcing negative stereotypes about plump men, Prince Fielder’s actions also seemed to anger the nacho gods. Zunino singled shortly thereafter, then Carlos Triunfel singled, and Dustin Ackley followed with a 3-run homer to give Seattle a 4-3 lead. Fortunately Fister stayed in the game long enough to let Fielder make amends by knocking in the tying run in the 8th, and then scoring the eventual game-winning run. The nacho gods are tough, but fair.

Baseball Food Collision: Don’t Be Ridiculous

The Detroit Tigers aren’t involved in this incident, but it demands to be included anyway. Sometimes fans are lucky enough to catch a foul ball during a game. Every now and then some spectator manages to grab two in the same contest. But this Dodgers fan, deep in enemy territory, has the distinction of making a fool of himself twice in the same game.

On his first attempt he forsakes a box full of fries as he awkwardly flails for a foul ball. He is rewarded for his effort, and those around him mostly seem happy to share in his joy, if not in his fries. A pricey slice of pizza goes flying the second time he bumbles his way out of dinner, and those around him no longer seem amused. Their angry reaction calls to mind another of television’s great food-related mishaps.

Baseball Food Collision: The Boston Massacre

We finish with the greatest intersection of baseball and food in recent history. So good, was this event, that just last month MLB Network dedicated the above 10-minute video to it. It’s certainly worth your time to watch the original video of the incident, even though the video appears to have been shot through a foggy plexiglass window.

It took place Monday, April 16, 2007, on the most Boston of holidays: Patriot’s Day. It’s a day for marathoners, and day drinkers, and Red Sox fans. Two of those three groups came together in spectacular fashion on this day, and simply put, this video has everything one could possibly want from a baseball highlight.

First we get foul ball just barely into the stands. It’s too far into the crowd for Angels’ left fielder Garret Anderson to catch, but close enough for him to try. Because of that we get not one, but two fantastic beer splashes. And then upon the first replay we see the true nature of what has happened. A slice of pizza, origin unknown, enters the frame and slaps a man’s shoulder, leaving behind a fingerprint of marinara. Soon the culprit is identified, and our kerfuffle threatens to become a fracas.

But the best part of the original video is the commentary by Boston’s announcers Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy. They’re learning all the stunning details of this food assault along with us, and provide the sort of detailed replays we expect from a quality television broadcast. Orsillo’s childish giggling gives us life, and Remy pronounces “pizza” with somewhere between two and five Rs. It’s just spectacular.