Baseball gloves have to be fairly sturdy, well-put-together items in order for them to serve their purpose. After all, no one is going to want to get in the way of a 118-MPH Giancarlo Stanton screamer, with their glove as the only thing that's stopping that ball from penetrating their chest, unless they can trust that leather.
Luckily for Trey Mancini, he wasn't standing directly behind his glove, nor was the ball heading in his direction due to an aforementioned Stanton liner. However, Orioles' third baseman Maikel Franco must have put some sort of extra mustard on his throw that literally put a hole in Mancini's glove.
Fortunately, the throw came at a rather inconsequential moment of the game. The Mariners were already up 2-1 — which would ultimately be the final score of the game — and Taylor Trammell, who ended up reaching safely on the grounder, was caught stealing during the very next at-bat.
But can you imagine if that had been a crucial juncture of the game? We've seen some controversial endings — Alec Bohm's slide into home that wasn't and Michael Conforto's lean-in, walk-off HBP — and we've also seen some no-hitters from Joe Musgrove and Carlos Rodon that were nearly perfect games if not for HBP. What if there was a walk-off win or a ruined perfect game due to a glove that just happened to blow apart at the wrong time?
But let's forget about that ridiculous hypothetical and get back to Franco's throw itself. He may not be the most consistent player in the world on either side of the ball — his career slash line of .251/.304/.432 is a good indication of that, as is his -1.9 career dWAR — but arm strength has never been in question.
While the play above is undoubtedly more impressive than his most recent highlight, I'd argue that the latter was more interesting. Was it the force of his throw? Was it just a faulty glove that was past its prime and about ready to burst? Either way... it's not something you see every day.
But it's apparently not something you never see. Enjoy the following supercut that I never knew existed until now.
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