Blanco tried to sacrifice bunt, hoping to merely advance the runners. On a 90-mile-per-hour fastball from Drew Smyly, Blanco’s bunt bounced hard up the third-base line. Smyly, Laird, the catcher, and third baseman Miguel Cabrera converged. The ball landed just inside the line, which is on the dirt just a few inches from grassy infield.
“I can see the spin,” Laird said. “So I’m thinking it’s going to hit and kick foul.”
In the instant of decision-making, Laird considered Blanco’s speed. It might be hard to throw him out, anyway, he thought. He will have two strikes, and we can get him on the next pitch.
“Let it roll,” he called to the others.
Blanco sprinted toward first. He, too, thought he would be headed back to the batter’s box with two strikes.
“As soon as I bunted it, I said, ‘Oh my God, it’s going to go foul,’ ” Blanco said.
The ball landed soft. It hit the edge of the grass, which is usually sloped just enough to nudge balls outward. The ball did not move left. It rolled to an improbable stop in the narrow gap between the grass and the third-base line.
“It was amazing,” Laird said. “I think 9 out of 10 times it might hit that lip and go foul. But it just sat and rolled right on the line. What can you do?”
Never, perhaps, has a World Series crowd so vociferously cheered a stationary ball.
