It was just the second spring training day of the season, but Josh Reddick may have made the best pair of catches that baseball fans will see in 2014. The Oakland A's right fielder scaled the wall twice on balls hit by San Francisco Giants outfielder Michael Morse, robbing him of two homers.
Reddick made an astounding catch by climbing the wall in the second inning to the awe of the crowd. He wasn't done there as he made another dazzling play rising above the wall again in the fourth inning.
Players from both sides swore that the first catch may have been the best catch that they've ever seen--or that it at least ranked up high.
"By far," shortstop Nick Punto said of it being the best catch he's ever seen via MLB.com. "I'm still in awe."
Morse was a good sport after being robbed twice in the A's Cactus League opener against the Giants in Scottsdale.
"He's known for doing that, man," Morse said, according to ESPN. "I'm happy to help him work on it in spring training, I guess."
Punto said he almost missed the first catch because he assumed it was going to clear the fence off the bat.
"I assumed it was a home run, and it was," Punto told MLB.com. "It was a lot over the fence. Not a little. I kept thinking, 'Oh, that's nice of him to do a courtesy jump.' He was at least 3 feet over a 10-foot wall."
Outfielder Sam Fuld was stunned by the first play.
"The first one he made was the best play I've ever seen, on the field or as a fan or anywhere," said Fuld, according to MLB.com. "Best play I've ever seen live, and then it just got wacky with the second one. You'll never see that ever again. I just hope they had the TV cameras going, because that's going to be on TV for a while."
Reddick explained that he saw the ball above his head and took a lucky stab at it.
"When I looked up, it was probably two feet above my head and I guess got lucky to throw my glove at it," Reddick said per MLB.com. "I just quick-snatched it, I guess you could say. I was shocked, even being able to come close to it."
Reddick also said it was undoubtedly the best catch he's ever made.
"Without a doubt," Reddick told MLB.com. "I have no idea how I did that."
Reddick won a gold glove in 2012, and if his start to the 2014 spring training season is any indication, he may take home some hardware again this season.
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