After watching highlights of Monday's Angels-Yankees makeup in the Bronx, I have but one piece of advice for Los Angeles center fielder Torii Hunter(notes).
Tie those Nikes tight next time, brah!
On second thought, maybe it was actually a good thing that Hunter had loose laces when tracking down a long fly to center from first baseman Mark Teixeira(notes) in the fifth inning of the Yankees' 5-3 victory.
As he made an unsuccessful leap for the ball, Hunter's spike became stuck in the wall and his left shoe separated from his foot. Teixeira made it all the way to third for a two-run triple, but the only result for Hunter was a new nickname instead of a twisted or broken ankle.
From the Associated Press:
“Shoeless Torii — that was pretty funny. My spike got caught in the wall,” Hunter said. “I was running out of my shoes right there.”
"Shoeless" Torii has a certain ring to it, but Monday's play isn't enough to pry the nickname away from Shoeless Joe Jackson, who actually earned the nickname after legging out a triple in his stockings — and not chasing after one — after his previous shoes gave him blisters.
But at least Hunter has a little better idea of the potential pitfalls he might face if the Angels and Yankees play each other in the postseason. The Yankees can talk about October ghosts all they want, but I'd be more afraid of a fortress that feeds on footwear.
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Bonus Link: Based on a closer look at the research done by Eight Men Out author Eliot Asinof, Shoeless Joe is once again benefiting from a modern day effort to clear his name of the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
