Atlanta Braves Lose Game In Incomprehensible Fashion With All-Time Baserunning Blunder

The Atlanta Braves had a solid game Friday night. By all accounts, everything was going as planned. 

Ronald Acuna returned to the lineup for the first time in a year and hit a 450-foot tank on the first pitch he saw. Chris Sale was a stud, returning to form after a rough start to the season. 

It was everything you wanted as a Braves fan, including the game-tying base knock in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extras …

… except, you know, that didn't exactly happen:

Have to put this one on Eli White

Whoaaaaaaaaaaa Nellie! What a blunder. I don't know that I've ever seen that before, and I've been watching baseball for 25 years. I played the game for 18 years, and the final four were with the worst DIII college baseball team in America. 

And I still never saw anything like that. 

I don't really understand what Eli White saw here. At first, you're tempted to blame third base coach Matt Tuiasosopo, who has already had a rough season. But then you see that second angle, and I'm just not sure if he did anything wrong. 

He's up the line, holding up the stop-sign. That's pretty clear to anyone with eyes, and I assume Eli White has eyes. Two hands in the air means stop. Little-leaguers know that. I don't know why Eli took it as "GET BACK HE CAUGHT IT YOU DUMMY!" I didn't get that impression from Matt Tuiasosopo. 

Let's hear from Braves manager Brian Snitker!

Yeah, I'm with Snit here. I know some Twitter sleuths want to blame the third base coach today, but I don't see that at all. I've played in approximately 20,000 baseball games over my lifetime. I've never, ever seen that. 

I've rounded third myself a few hundred times, and I've never once seen the third base coach halfway up the line with his hands up and thought to myself, ‘I need to get back to second, ASAP!’ Just never happened. 

So, I'm putting this all on Eli White. Sorry, pal. I feel for you. I do. But you screwed the pooch on this one. 

Oh well. Onwards.