Someone Throwing a Seed to Home Plate With the Game on the Line Is One of the Best Things in Sports

Bob Levey/Getty Images
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Your mileage may vary, as it always seems to, but for my money there are precious few things in sports as exciting as a play at home plate with the game hanging in the balance. There's a complete unpredictability as to what kind of throw will be uncorked. And what type of hop it may take. It's never completely clear if it will be on-line. Or if it will afford the catcher enough time to apply a tag with a hard-charging runner approaching, whose sprinting speed we never see enough sample sizes from to commit to rote knowledge.

We had such a play last night in Houston, where Texas Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo hosed Chas McCormick at the dish in the bottom of the 10th inning with a 97.3 mph seed.

Houston would go on to win an inning later so Gallo's heave only delayed the inevitable. But let no one take away how cool of a moment it was. A sacrifice fly can be one of the more boring plays in baseball or the most thrilling. A wide array of possibilities.

Now, back to the debate at hand. Surely, the final seconds of a college basketball game are a more thrilling climax than the throw home. Outside of that, not so sure there's much clearly superior. Embrace debate.

If there's any upside to the extra-innings rule it's the possibility of seeing this type of action more frequently.