Darwin Barney comes well short of third with ridiculous failed slide

After hitting just five triples all season, the Toronto Blue Jays have apparently forgotten exactly where third base is.

In the second inning of Monday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Darwin Barney showed his infield geography could use some work as he tried to slide into third base from way too far out and missed by a country mile.

Barney himself didn’t categorize the move as a slide, but rather the result of stiff legs.

“It wasn’t a slide,” he explained after the game. “I was just trying to stop myself I guess.”

To his credit, the veteran infielder also demonstrated he had no quit in him by crawling to the base safely – making it essentially a “no-harm no-foul” situation”. If nothing else, it put a big smile on the face of the 31-year-old.

What the GIF fails to capture the bout of indecisiveness on Barney’s part earlier in the play as he couldn’t decide whether to settle for two bases or push for three. Prompted by a bobble from Adam Jones, he finally decided on the second option.

As it turns out there was a logical reason for his behaviour on the bases.

“There’s been a little bug going around so I woke up today feeling pretty crummy,” he explained. “I had no legs. I knew I had three all the way, but I decided to hold up. I didn’t think I would make it… but of course he drops that ball and I have to get there. [My legs] locked up and the rest is history.”

Despite his industrious – if inelegant – effort, the play was scored a double with an error. That means Barney’s quest for his first triple of the season continues, as does the Blue Jays’ bid for just their sixth of the season.

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