David Newhan played in parts of eight seasons for five different ball clubs. His longest stint was a three-year span from 2004 to 2006 with the Baltimore Orioles, in which he posted a career year in 2004. His 116 hits, eight home runs, 54 RBI, 66 runs scored and .311 batting average were all career highs by significant margins. His best game came on July 21, when he went 4-5 with a home run, a double, two RBI and four runs scored. Remember that?
Of course you do... but not because of David Newhan.
You remember it because of the above play, an infamous blunder that I assume is included on every single baseball blooper reel that you've ever watched. It's essential viewing for fans of sports gaffes, bizarre moments and the finest works within the "Manny Being Manny" collection.
But for as many times as we've watched this infamous cutoff, there's a part of the play that we're not too familiar with. How on earth did his teammates react as the play unfolded? It wasn't anything that ended up costing the Red Sox the game — they were seemingly on their way to a loss, anyway — but it was surely, a) an embarrassment for Manny, b) a frustration for Pedro Martinez, and c) absolutely hilarious no matter what team or fan base we're referring to.
In the latest episode of Bret Boone's "The Boone Podcast," center fielder and relay thrower Johnny Damon shared his perspective and a snippet of the behind-the-scenes reaction from him and fellow outfielder Trot Nixon:
"Long drive to center field from David (Newhan), I'm going up, and that wall... and Fenway is the toughest place to play center field anywhere. So I go up and the ball hits off the wall. Manny should be backing me up at this time but Manny's kind of just chilling, so I get to the ball, pick it up. Throwing it to Bill Mueller probably would have been a one- or two-hopper — I don't have the strongest arm in the world — and all of a sudden Manny Ramirez dives for the first time the whole year to catch the ball. What was he doing? I don't know, maybe making one of the biggest bloopers of all time? Maybe he knew that was happening?
"...They made a pitching change afterward, and Trot Nixon strolls over to center field to meet with me, and he's got his glove up against his mouth. He started laughing, and he goes, 'what in the heck just happened?!' (laughter) And I was obviously upset, but I was like, yeah you're right. This is a funny moment. But unfortunately, they just got four runs against Pedro, and how would it look if we're laughing right now on something that Manny just did? (more laughter) So I remember that moment more so than many others, Trot Nixon coming over and just laughing into his glove."
Fortunately, that game as a whole — Ramirez went 0-4 with two strikeouts and left runners stranded on base twice — was just a blip on the radar for the fearsome slugger. Ramirez more than made up for it, leading the American League with 43 home runs, a .613 slugging percentage and a 1.009 OPS in his seventh consecutive All-Star season. And if you weren't aware, that 2004 Red Sox team ended up being pretty solid by the end of the year.
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