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The expression “knocked the cover off the ball” is almost as old as baseball, but it’s a feat that has rarely been accomplished.
Milwaukee Brewers backup catcher Martin Maldonado put his name into the collective memories of baseball fans everywhere last night after literally knocking the cover off a grounder to third.
Maldonado was at bat in the sixth inning with a runner on when he smacked a ground ball to Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez. As the ball bounced towards Alvarez, the cover of the ball visibly came loose.
With the catcher hustling towards first base, Alvarez fielded the ball cleanly and threw to first only to have the ball land short of the bag, with a chunk of leather providing resistance.
“I feel like I hit it on the barrel, not on the end of the bat,” Maldonado told MLB.com. “But when I looked down, I see that something was spinning. I never thought it was the ball uncovered. I thought he threw it to second base. Then I looked back and saw the ball and I was like, ‘That’s kind of weird.'”
Maldonado was called safe at first on what was ruled an infield hit.
