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Bizarre Bounce Helps Tampa Bay Rays' Luke Raley Hit Viral Inside-the-Park Home Run

Pinch hitter Luke Raley caught a lucky bounce out in right-center field at Oracle Park, converting it into a stand-up, inside-the-park home run.

Sam Connon

Bizarre Bounce Helps Tampa Bay Rays' Luke Raley Hit Viral Inside-the-Park Home Run
Bizarre Bounce Helps Tampa Bay Rays' Luke Raley Hit Viral Inside-the-Park Home Run /
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Inside-the-park home runs are already rare enough, but Luke Raley's was truly one of a kind.

The Tampa Bay Rays were up 5-0 when they put Raley in to pinch hit for center fielder Jose Siri with one out in the top of the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. Raley stepped in to face right-hander Ross Stripling, and he took the very first pitch he saw for a ride.

Raley crushed a slider deep to right-center field, sending it screaming into Oracle Park's signature 25-foot brick wall, rather than watching it sail into the stands.

The ball took an awkward carom off the iconic, angled wall, then it took another bounce off the top of the lower, padded fence before it finally fell back into the field of play. Rookie center fielder Wade Meckler overran it, slipped, and eventually had to chase down the ball in the opposite direction.

Raley may not have been able to trot around the bases, admiring a clean home run, but he did manage to make it all the way around to score after sprinting 270 feet.

The moment the highlight – or lowlight, from a Giants perspective – hit social media, the play was already being heralded as one of the wildest ever seen.

While Raley is 12-for-14 on stolen base attempts this season, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound outfielder-turned-first baseman isn't exactly known as a speedster on the basepaths.

Raley managed to notch a stand-up, inside-the-park home run that put the Rays on top 6-0, though, all while the TV announcers laughed through the play in real time.

Raley is now batting .257 with 17 home runs, 43 RBI, an .857 OPS and a 2.4 WAR through 95 games this season.

The Rays went on to beat the Giants 6-1, improving to 73-50 as a result.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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