(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds is probably the most fun baseball player to watch in the major leagues right now. And I’m in South Florida. But what happened this afternoon was special. Although, it wasn’t just his speed and baseball instincts that allowed Elly De La Cruz to steal second, then third, then home. Let’s watch it again.
A close play at second, for sure.
But then what happens next, was assisted by another player. Brewers 3rd baseman Brian Anderson didn’t cover third on the steal. Maybe he was instructed not to. Maybe he had no chance of tagging Elly De La Cruz out anyway. The official scorer could actually change that to fielders indifference if they wanted. Here’s another angle, and watch Anderson closely after Elly steals third.
Anderson was no where near the bag, which allowed Elly to get that huge lead. Elly took his helmet off and did the hair flip which caused the Brewers to relax. Watch him glance over at Anderson as he takes off his helmet. The hair flip was a distraction as Elly was looking over at third base to see if Anderson was going to cover. He did not, which gave Elly the opportunity to creep further towards home. And when the pitcher turned his back, Elly De La Cruz saw an opportunity to steal home, he took it.
The Reds went on to beat the Brewers 8-5.
10.83 seconds: Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds
10.83 seconds. That’s all it took. Elly De La Cruz hit a ball into the gap into right center field and was on 3rd base 10.83 seconds later. Elly is 21 years old and 3 weeks ago he was playing AAA ball and we had no idea who he was. Now he’s the hottest name in baseball, at least to us Reds fans.
Elly has brought an energy to the Reds that I haven’t seen in quite awhile. Until my friend sang the National Anthem at the June 7th game, I hadn’t watched a single minute of Reds baseball this year. I moved from Dayton, Ohio to Southwest Florida, the Fort Myers area, about 20 years ago. There’s not a lot of Reds talk down here. Until now.
Here’s what Elly’s stardom means to me. Elly wears number 44. That’s Eric Davis’s number. “Eric The Red” as he was called, was my favorite player growing up. My dad would take us to games and I’d watch him play. Davis played with intensity. He knew he had a gift and played all out. So when I saw highlights of this new guy wearing number 44 – playing at full speed, swinging hard at every pitch, and absolutely crushing it, well, it guess it reminds me of watching games as a kid at Riverfront.
Elly hit for the cycle on Friday night, and helped the Reds beat the Braves 11-10. They’ve now won 12 games in a row. I’m watching the games now. And texting back and forth with my parents who are 1,100 miles away. So yeah, this is special to me, too. I’m watching Reds games with my Dad again. And cheering for number 44.
I’m not the only one. The Reds average attendance this year is 19,659. In April, a game drew 7,375. Last night’s game against the Braves was sold out.
In 2020, COVID cancelled that year’s minor league baseball season, costing the young players a year of development. In 2022 he played single A ball with the Dayton Dragons. He started 2023 with the Triple-AÂ Louisville Bats.
Elly was called up to the “Show” on June 6th. On June 7th he hit his first major league home run. On June 23rd he hit for the cycle against one of the best teams in all of baseball. His stats are impressive. In just 15 games he is 22 for 61 with 17 runs scored. 3 home runs, 10 RBI, 7 stolen bases, and a batting average of .361.
Here’s what the last (less than) three weeks has looked like.
Joe Winner spends his days combing through memes and off beat stories to bring you the side of Florida not always seen.
