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Parker Meadows Went to Extraordinary Heights to Rob Home Run and Save Tigers' Victory

Centerfielder makes Catch of the Year candidate.

Kyle Koster

Parker Meadows robbed a potential game-changing home run.
Parker Meadows robbed a potential game-changing home run. /
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It's been a challenging sophomore year for Detroit Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows. After struggling mightily through the first month-plus of the season he was sent down to Triple-A Toledo. A spate of injures facilitated a callback to the big club back in July for three games before he was sent down once again. He was promoted once again earlier this week and has been making the most of it, going 6-for-14 in his latest chance, including a triple and a home run.

On Wednesday night he also flashed his defensive prowess, taking away what looked like a go-ahead home run off the bat of Seattle's Cal Raleigh in the bottom of the eighth. Meadows managed to get his 6-foot-5 frame high above the wall in right center to magically turn two runs into the third out to preserve the Tigers' second straight victory over the Mariners.

Tigers closer Jason Foley looked like he couldn't believe the grab, or at the very least was doing some complex mathematical equations to figure out how someone could bail him out like that. Perhaps he was wondering just how much of the result was due to a nighttime marine layer and how much can be attributed to having the rare giant in centerfield.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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