Even if neither the Los Angeles Dodgers nor the Milwaukee Brewers go on to win this year\u2019s World Series, they\u2019re going to be part of highlight reels for decades to come. The Brewers turned one of the most confusing and astonishing double plays in postseason history Monday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series \u2014 on a 404-foot fly ball to left-center field that was almost a home run.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely the worst fielder\u2019s choice, double play I\u2019ve ever hit into in my life,\u201d said the Dodgers\u2019 Max Muncy, who struck the fly ball that led to the chaos in the Dodgers\u2019 2-1 victory.<\/p>\n
In the top of the fourth inning during a scoreless game, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with one out when Muncy put a charge into an elevated pitch from Brewers righty Quinn Priester. Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick was shaded toward right-center to begin the play at Milwaukee\u2019s American Family Field, and he nearly made a fantastic leaping catch at the wall as he sprinted to his right.<\/p>\n
Frelick, though, couldn\u2019t cleanly reel it in, and the ball bounced off his glove. But to Frelick\u2019s luck, the ball didn\u2019t shoot away, and he was able to secure it as it fell. Dodgers runners \u2014 watching from a couple of hundred feet away \u2014 thought Frelick ultimately made the catch.<\/p>\n
\nmaybe the craziest play in postseason baseball historypic.twitter.com\/T0aJizMNKc<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Codify (@CodifyBaseball) October 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
He had not, however. The ball hit off the yellow line along the top of the wall right after it bounced out of Frelick\u2019s glove, before he finally nabbed it.<\/p>\n
That meant the ball was in play, and there were force plays available at every base.<\/p>\n
Confusion ensued on the basepaths.<\/p>\n
Frelick fired the ball into the edge of the dirt, where shortstop Joey Ortiz made a perfect relay throw to the plate. Ortiz\u2019s throw barely beat a sliding Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez for the first out, a force at home. Catcher William Contreras completed the double play himself by walking the ball from home plate to third base, where the Dodgers\u2019 Will Smith had yet to advance from second base. That ended the inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cSal is one of the most intelligent baseball players you are going to find,\u201d Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. \u201cHe gets it. And he\u2019s a great outfielder, playing center field for the first time in a while. But he\u2019s mad that he didn\u2019t make the catch. But if he did, the runner would have scored easily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play is scored, oddly enough, as an 8-6-2 grounded into a double play \u2014 yes, grounded. (\u201cI don\u2019t know how else they would term it,\u201d Murphy said.) As the play wrapped up, TBS\u2019 cameras caught Frelick with his arms at his side, capturing everyone\u2019s feeling at the moment: What the heck just happened?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was only one umpire, I think that was signaling,\u201d said the Dodgers\u2019 Tommy Edman, who was on first base. \u201cIt was kind of unclear what had happened. I think that just led to the confusion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we can learn from that going forward \u2026 survey the umpires and see what they\u2019re saying instead of just making assumptions about what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Left-field umpire Chad Fairchild, manning one of the two extra umpiring positions assigned to postseason games, immediately signaled no catch when Frelick bobbled the ball. Impressively, umpires got the play on the field right the first time, replays confirmed. The Dodgers challenged the out calls at third and home, but replay officials confirmed both were correct.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see him immediately saying no catch,\u201d crew chief James Hoye, the first-base umpire, said of Fairchild. \u201cThey throw the ball in, and then all of a sudden you turn around and there are runners everywhere, right? At that point, guys are going back, going forward. The coaches are spinning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Managers often malign umpires for mistakes, but Monday, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts gave the crew its due.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guys on the field got it right,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThey nailed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The play wasn\u2019t mistake-free, though. Hern\u00e1ndez, who started the rally with a leadoff walk, likely should have been able to score from third base on the play no matter what.<\/p>\n
MLB\u2019s rules allow a runner to tag up and advance on the moment the ball is first touched by the fielder \u2014 Hern\u00e1ndez could have broken for the plate the moment Frelick first made contact with the ball. Had Hern\u00e1ndez done so, he probably would have been safe regardless of whether Frelick secured the ball. Instead, the inning ended without the Dodgers scoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go over that rule. Teo knows the rule,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI think right there, he had just a little bit of a brain fart. \u2026 But he owned it. And after that, there\u2019s nothing else you can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Muncy, who narrowly missed a homer, joked that \u201cI\u2019ve got to do a better job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn all seriousness, he made an incredible play in center field,\u201d Muncy said of Frelick. \u201cAs for what happened after that, I\u2019m not really sure. I\u2019m still kind of confused as to what all went down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou come out of that at-bat feeling good that you at least (will score) one run on a sac fly. I felt like I hit it good enough that it had a chance. Then you come away with nothing, a double play.\u201d<\/p>\n