Jo Adell made history with a trio of home run robberies earlier this year. Now, the Los Angeles Angels right fielder joined Jose Canseco in a most embarrassing fraternity — outfielders who have bounced ***** off their head and over the fence for a home run.
Adell's moment of ignominy occurred Tuesday, June 2 when Colorado Rockies designated hitter TJ Rumfield hit a fly ball to right center field in the top of the fourth inning; Adell seemed poised to catch it easily in stride.
But he apparently lost the ball in Angel Stadium's twilight sky. As he reached to catch it, the ball instead glanced off his glove and bounced off his cap — and over the yellow line signifying a home run.
It was a near carbon-copy of the fly ball Cleveland's Carlos Martinez sent to right field at old Municipal Stadium on May 26, 1993. Canseco, once a decent outfielder but by then a large and stiff specimen addled by years of steroid use, chased it down yet missed it entirely, the ball bonking off his dome and over the wall, a viral video before the phrase even existed.
Adell is no Canseco. He set what's believed to be a modern record by robbing three home runs in a single game on April 5 against Seattle. This time, he simply missed.