Skip to main content

New York Yankees' Hideki Matsui hits an RBI single that brought in three runs after an error by Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Travis Snider during first inning AL baseball action in Toronto on Thursday, September 3, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren CalabreseThe Canadian Press

It's a lousy feeling when you make a silly blunder in front of thousands of fans in a baseball game.

Just ask Travis Snider, the Toronto Blue Jays rookie.

The young outfielder was charging a grounder struck into right field off the bat of Hideki Matsui in the first inning of Thursday night's baseball game against the New York Yankees when he let the ball slide under his glove.

The bases were loaded at the time in a scoreless ball game.

The ball rolled all the way to the fence in right field and the error allowed three New York runners to score.

The Yankees wound up winning the game, 10-5.

"I guess I came up trying to throw too quick, before I had the ball in my glove," Snider said, describing his error as a physical mistake.

As soon as the ball went under his glove, a wave of emotions started flowing through Snider's mind.

"It's a lonely feeling," he said. "You never want to be in that position. Unfortunately in all sports you're going to have moments where you're that guy. On that play I was that guy and you've just got to take it like a man."

The 25-or-so metres he had to run back to the fence to retrieve the ball felt like a marathon.

"You know everybody's watching you because the ball just goes under your glove, a routine ground ball," he said.

While the error was unfortunate Toronto manager Cito Gaston said it's nothing that Snider should be ashamed about.

"Him and I talked about it," Gaston said. "I've been there. It's hard to describe what you feel. You feel really really bad inside and embarrassed. It seems like you're never going to get to that ball when you're running after it.

"But as I told him, if he plays long enough it's going to happen again. In fact I asked him if it's happened before and he says not in a long time. I said but it did happen and it will happen again."

Interact with The Globe