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For the second time this year, a Gerrit Cole pickoff attempt tore a hole in Pedro Alvarez's glove

Cole throws another pickoff through Alvarez's glove

By Chris Landers

Earlier this season, Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole fired a pickoff attempt straight through Pedro Alvarez's glove, laying bare his superhuman strength for the world to see:

Alvarez glove

It was a harrowing moment, and we ended our investigative report with a sense of foreboding: 

"But is it Alvarez's fault that the Coles haven't told their son he's an alien from planet Krypton, and that if he doesn't temper the strength of his pickoff throws, he'll eventually tear holes not only through gloves, but through universes?"

Not only through gloves, but through universes -- those words seem terrifyingly prescient today. Because, if Saturday's Pirates-Reds game is any indication, Cole's pickoff throws have only increased in force in the ensuing months:

Alvarez glove

Clearly the hour is almost at hand, when Cole will rear back and fire a baseball not merely through Pedro Alvarez's glove, but through the very fabric of our space-time continuum. Who will rise up and stand against this menace? The world needs a hero, and we think we have an excellent candidate: 

Giant glove

Help us, Mickey Hatcher. You're our only hope.