If you missed Game 1 of the NLCS, you missed absolute, pure baseball bedlam. I’m talking about the kind of double play chaos that turns seasoned veterans into confused toddlers and leaves fans staring at the field like, “Did that really just happen?” Yes, it did. And it was glorious.
A Deep Fly, a Leaping Catch, and Then… Confusion Unleashed
The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off their seven-game NLCS battle Monday night in Milwaukee, and for three innings, it was your standard October chess match — pitchers dealing, hitters grinding, no score, tension building like a coiled spring. Then came the fourth inning, and that’s where things just… broke loose.
Dodgers load the bases. One out. Quinn Priester on the mound for Milwaukee. Max Muncy steps to the plate, and — CRACK! — he launches one to dead center. Off the bat, you think “That’s gone. That’s a grand slam.” Every fan in the building holds their breath.
Enter Sal Frelick, Milwaukee’s defensive wizard in center field. He gets back to the wall, leaps, gloves the ball… but can’t quite hang on. It bangs off the wall — still in play — and somehow drops right back into his glove. And that’s where things go from baseball to Looney Tunes.
Dodgers’ Baserunners Lost in a Maze of Mayhem
Because here’s the thing: once that ball hits the wall, it’s live. No tag-up needed. It’s every man for himself, and suddenly the Dodgers’ baserunners are scrambling like they just got tossed into a live-action escape room. No one knows where to go.
Frelick fires the ball in. Joey Ortiz gets it. Fires home. Teoscar Hernández — the lead runner — gets hosed at the plate. That’s out number two. Then Brewers catcher William Contreras, clearly the only one still reading the rulebook, spots Will Smith jogging back to second base like it’s still 2022. Contreras tags third base himself for out number three.
An 8-6-2 double play on a ball hit 400 feet. Muncy doesn’t get a grand slam. Doesn’t get a sac fly. Doesn’t even get an RBI. Nope — he gets tagged with one of the weirdest “groundouts” in baseball history. A 400-foot groundout! That’s something you put in a trivia book next to “pitchers who once played left field in an emergency.”
Umpires Nail the Call in a Sea of Madness
And while Frelick looked just as baffled as everyone else — and honestly, who wouldn’t be — credit to the umpiring crew here. Left field ump Chad Fairchild saw the ball hit the wall and IMMEDIATELY signaled it live. In a swirling hurricane of confusion, they got the call right. That’s impressive.
Look — we’ve seen plenty of playoff madness over the years. Bizarre bloopers, fan interference, walk-off bunts, you name it. But this one felt like a fever dream. A perfect storm of baseball IQ, miscommunication, and pure, chaotic energy.
It’s moments like these — unfiltered, unplanned, and unforgettable — that remind us why baseball still delivers the best theater in sports. You cannot script this stuff.
