Mark Sanchez gave us the Buttfumble, a caricature-worthy moment of Jets ineptitude.
On Tuesday night, we witnessed the Buttslide, a baseball equivalent courtesy of Jonathan Villar of the MLB-worst Houston Astros.
Leading off in the bottom of the first inning, Villar strokes a line drive into center field. He rounds first, hesitates a moment then eagerly takes off for second, launching into a head-first slide. The problem? Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is crouched on top of the base to receive the tag with his back turned, and when Villar slides in, his face — a la Sanchez — collides directly with Phillips’ derriere.
The Buttfumble, when Sanchez lost the ball after stumbling into the rear end of one of his offensive linemen during the Jets’ game last Thanksgiving against the Patriots, is the ultimate cheeky moment. It had to be retired as ESPN’s reigning lowlight “Worst of the Worst” after 40 consecutive weeks atop the mound.
Whereas Sanchez’s miscue was more of the stumbling, bumbling sort, Villar’s gets points for intensity. He meant to slide there — foolishly, yes — and it was only bad luck that placed Phillips’ backside squarely in his path. The Buttfumble resulted in a touchdown; the Buttslide merely cost the woeful Astros one out in their 100th loss of the season. And Sanchez at least has a full repertoire of  photo ops and football slips to choose from; Villar, an unheralded rookie, has just the Buttslide to his name for now.
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