ANAHEIM, Calif. — This heads-up play will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
Angels right fielder Jo Adell made headlines earlier this season when he robbed three batters of potential home runs in a single game. On Tuesday, Adell gave one back in embarrassing fashion, as a fly ball bounced off his glove and head and bounded into the stands.
The solo home run by TJ Rumfield happened during the fourth inning of the Angels’ 8-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies at Angel Stadium. The baseball bounced just over the yellow line that indicates the top of the fence. The ball caromed back onto the field and was initially ruled in play, The Orange County Register reported. Then, the umpires huddled and ruled the fly ball was a round-tripper.
The odd play was similar to the May 26, 1993, game where a ball bounced off Jose Canseco’s head and into the stands, MLB.com reported. That play has been a staple on sports blooper reels.
“I was toward the line, so I felt like I had a little bit longer way to go than I normally do on a route like that and I just missed it,” Adell said, according to the Register. “It went off my hat, kind of. I don’t know if I overran it. It was kind of the icing on the cake, because I was (expletive) all the way around the whole day today.”
Off his glove, off his head, and out!
— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2026
One of the strangest home runs you've ever seen 🤯 pic.twitter.com/KaPpp1r9Cx
The ball has bounced this way before for Adell. As a rookie in 2020, a fly ball by Nick Solak bounced off his glove and into the stands. Initially ruled a home run, the official scorer later changed the play to a four-base error, MLB.com reported.
Embarrassing in either instance.
Adell had been working hard on his defense and was a Gold Glove finalist in 2024, the Register reported.
On April 4, he robbed three Seattle Mariners players of home runs in a game the Angels won 1-0, according to the newspaper.
The final catch was a tumbling grab into the stands of J.P. Crawford’s drive that preserved the victory.
The glove he used in that game now resides at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
“He robbed three homers in one night this year, so it’s baseball, and it’s a crazy game,” Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who allowed eight runs in 3⅔ innings and took the loss. “Things happen. Obviously, he didn’t do that on purpose. All you can do is really just move on.”
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki agreed.
“Jo’s made great strides defensively from when I played with him. And obviously, he had the night he robbed three home runs,” Suzuki said. “So I look back at the strides that he’s made defensively.
“It was a tough play tonight, but at the same time, the strides that he’s made defensively have been great.”
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