Rangers’ Elvis Andrus goes ‘unconscious,’ throws glove at line drive

If Elvis Andrus had to appear in a court of law to answer for what he did in the sixth inning of the Rangers’ 7-6 win over the Angels on Saturday night, he would have an unusual defense.

Temporary insanity.

How else could he explain throwing his glove in desperation at a line drive that was 10 feet over his head?

To be fair to the veteran, it was a desperate situation for Texas. There were two outs and a man on third. The Rangers were trailing, 5-4, in a game that featured back-and-forth scoring from the get-go. Kole Calhoun, one of the hottest hitters in baseball at the moment, was at the plate. He already had two RBIs on the day.

And then he lofted a soft line drive into right-center field. Andrus, playing over on a shift, took one step to his left and then flicked his glove skyward, where it just barely missed the ball as it fell into the outfield.

“I did that, like, unconscious,” Andrus said afterward. “As soon as I throw the glove and grab it back, it was like, ‘Did I really do that?’”

Yes, he did, and it was close enough to the ball to send Angels Manager Mike Scioscia hustling out of the dugout to confer with the umpires. If the glove had touched the ball, it would have been an automatic three-base error, according to the MLB rulebook.

“I don’t think that’s the way we want to play,” Texas Manager Jeff Banister said. “I think it was just a lapse of momentary consciousness, I guess, and really not understanding that’s a three-base rule if you clip the ball.”

Believe it or not, this was not the first time Banister had seen such an occurrence, he said.

“It’s the second time I’ve seen that in my major-league career. Both guys didn’t understand that that’s a three-base mental error,” he said. “[Andrus] knows now. It’s not something you see every day. I don’t think you’ll see him do it again, either.”

In a tight game that came down to one run, the difference between Calhoun on first or on third could have proven very costly. Luckily for the Rangers, the Angels matched them with an error by Albert Pujols and a poor fielding decision by Erick Aybar. However, Andrus made it clear he realized the potential damage he could have done.

“It’s not going to happen again,” Andrus said. “I apologized to the manager and the coaches.”

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