Major League Baseball

Good times in MLB: Javier Báez's unforgettable play for Chicago Cubs

Updated May. 31, 2021 2:57 p.m. ET

By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Welcome to Good Times.

Every Monday, we focus on three things from the previous week in baseball — fans, managers, players, teams, cities, fan bases or mascots — for whom the times were good.

Let’s get right into it.

1. Javier Báez/Everyone But Will Craig

It has now been five days since Báez broke the internet, the space-time continuum and the rules of baseball. Many of us have done other things with our lives since that day, and some of us have even watched more baseball games, but I’m here to remind you how utterly bananas the entire thing was and to ensure that the wildest play of the year so far endures at the forefront of your mind.

Let’s watch it again:

There is a multitude of wonderful things about this play, but one of the first things that strikes me is how innocuous of a situation this was. Runner on third with two down, slow grounder to the hot corner, third baseman whips it across the diamond. We’ve seen this play happen a bazillion times. Javy conjured wonder from the mundane.

To get the un-fun part of the conversation out of the way: Yes, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Will Craig completely bungled this. Like, absolutely one of the more astounding brain farts in baseball history. He’s helped by the fact that this was in May and not a meaningful playoff game or anything, but the Báez gymnastics were only possible because Craig didn’t touch first base.

My dude! Will Craig! Just touch first base!

This play is so good because you can show it to someone who doesn’t watch a lot of baseball, and they instantly know that something super weird is afoot. Similarly, baseball obsessives like me can dork out endlessly about the intricacies of the play. Did Javy know what he was doing? Or was he just goofing around and got incredibly lucky?

The entire thing was such a surprise that Javy himself celebrated his mischievousness mid-play before remembering that he actually had to run to first base. If Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier were just standing on first and that throw from the catcher were on line, then Báez would be out and the highlight would not have taken off.

This not only is the type of baseball play that I had never seen, but also it’s something I had never even considered. Unparalleled in baseball history (unless you ask Keith Olbermann), this circus act was a once-in-a-lifetime event, the Halley’s Comet of baserunning.

It was practically impossible, only brought to life by a hilarious confluence of empty-headedness from Craig and creativity from Báez. We’ll never see it again, so watch the video 100,000 more times.

2. Joey Votto

Many of us knew at a decently young age that professional baseball was never in the cards for us. Whether it was Little League, middle school, high school or after that, we all had a humbling realization at one point or another that we’d probably never suit up in the bigs.

Instead, unathletic derps such as I dreamed of being big-league broadcasters. Watching games every day, recounting their happenings over the airwaves, coming up with fun catchphrases and reading local commercials for who-knows-what.

Reds first baseman Joey Votto gets to have the best of both worlds because earlier this week, the future Hall of Famer joined the Cincinnati radio booth while on the injured list because of a broken thumb.

Votto is different, in the best possible way. There can’t be many other players around the league who would spend their free time while hurt doing the local radio broadcast and calling some play-by-play. Votto is easily one of the biggest baseball fans amongst MLB players. I highly recommend listening to his appearance on Joe Posnanski’s podcast last year. Votto is a true student of the game.

And he was pretty good on the broadcast! His insights were valuable, and most importantly, he was dedicated to celebrating today’s game instead of nitpicking, complaining and whining about the good, old days like so many other players-turned-broadcasters often do.

This might sound stupid because it’s common knowledge that Votto is from Toronto, and we’ve all heard him interviewed before, but I was kind of struck by how Canadian he sounded. Not that that’s a bad thing — Canada’s a cool place (shout-out to free health care) — but if you tossed Joey on a Jays broadcast next to Dan Shulman or Buck Martinez once he’s finished playing? That would be impeccable stuff.

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3. Jazz Chisholm Jr.

There are a handful of big-league ballparks that inspire wonder, even when you go to them for the first time as an adult. I’m talking about the truly iconic cathedrals of our sport such as Wrigley Field, Dodger Stadium and Fenway Park.

For young Miami Marlins infielder and pulsating baseball strobe light Jazz Chisholm, his first journey to Fenway Park this week was a delightful reminder that even the superstars playing baseball at the highest level feel a wave of awe when visiting and playing in such historic stadiums.

I was lucky enough to go inside the Green Monster once, and let me assure you that it’s pretty damn cool. Even the most cynical, jaded baseball lifer can step inside there and feel something special.

To see Chisholm exhibiting that feeling of joy is just awesome. I know players go inside and visit the monster all the time on their first trips to Fenway, but there’s something particularly delightful about one of the game’s most modern players ⁠— a blue-haired, Bahamian whirlwind with wrists like lightning and a flair for the dramatic ⁠— walking through the damp, decaying corridor that Ted Williams used to chill in.

Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. You can follow him on Twitter @Jake_Mintz.