Tampa Bay’s Rene Rivera Pulls a Willie Mays Hayes, Slides Waaaay Too Early Into Second [VIDEO]
During Monday's game against the Angels, the Rays' Rene Rivera pulled off a move not seen in 26 years: he slid about five feet short of second base. Just like Willie Mays Hayes in 1989's Major League!
The cinematic slide is so iconic, the announcers immediately made the connection, calling it "the ultimate Willie Mays Hayes slide." For his part, Rivera took it all quite well, laughing as he got up and trotted off the field, after never coming close to reaching the back. Erick Aybar, who was waiting patiently for Rivera to get juuuust a bit closer, didn't go full-on Major League by waving to Rivera as he sat there in the baseline, but he also handled the moment well.
And we feel obligated to include this one too: