Every team’s best defensive play of the decade
As MLB.com looks back this month on all the baseball that took place in the 2010s, today offers a chance to dust off the sensational, breathtaking plays that made us wonder: "How on Earth did he do that?"
That's right, we're looking back at each team's very best defensive highlights of the decade, and the gems listed below truly just scratch the surface. Click through to find each team's 10 best highlights -- and be prepared to sit with your mouth agape for a while.
Without further ado ...
NL EAST
Braves: Simba did what? (July 21, 2014)
Former Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons was caught on the wrong foot, but still managed to snag this line drive and force Christian Yelich out at second base. Don't try Simmons' incredible change-of-direction lunge without doing plenty of yoga first. Braves' top 10 >
Marlins: Ozuna channels Spider-Man (July 16, 2017)
Marcell Ozuna has had some misadventures scaling outfield walls in recent times, but don't let those overshadow the heights Ozuna went to while robbing Enrique Hernández of a home run during his Gold Glove Award-winning season. Marlins ownership had lowered the height of the walls the previous offseason to encourage amazing catches just like this one. Marlins' top 10 >
Mets: Mike Baxter saves Johan's no-no (June 1, 2012)
Baxter displaced his collarbone and tore rib cartilage while making this incredible catch at the left-field wall to rob Yadier Molina. But here's guessing that both Baxter and Mets fans will still say it was worth it -- the play preserved the first (and still only) no-hitter in franchise history. New York had waited 50 years, one month and 21 days for its first no-no, and it took Baxter's courageous catch to help finish the job. Mets' top 10 >
Nationals: Souza saves Zimmermann's no-hitter (Sept. 28, 2014)
Could it be anything else? The Nats' last play of the 2014 regular season saw Stephen Souza Jr. sprint into the left-center-field gap and glide through the air to rob Christian Yelich and record the final out of Jordan Zimmermann's no-hitter -- the first in Nationals history. Speaking of the ground he covered, Souza would later say, "It was like God gave me an extra gear." Divine inspiration or not, Souza's catch remains an all-time highlight in D.C. Nationals' top 10 >
Phillies: Herrera seals Hamels' no-no (July 25, 2015)
Odúbel Herrera has probably logged prettier catches during his Phillies tenure, but this one helped close the book on Cole Hamels' distinguished Philadelphia career. Herrera gloved Kris Bryant's drive to the center-field warning track, and Hamels authored a no-hitter -- days before the Phillies traded Hamels to Texas. Phillies' top 10 >
NL CENTRAL
Brewers: Braun turns two in clincher (Sept. 23, 2011)
Milwaukee's first division title in 29 years was delivered in large part by a sensational play by franchise cornerstone Ryan Braun. In a tie game in the fifth, Braun made a diving catch to rob the Marlins' Omar Infante, and then got up and fired to first base to double off the speedy Emilio Bonifacio and end the inning. That proved vital, since the game remained tied all the way until Braun hit a three-run homer in bottom of the eighth to punch the Crew's postseason ticket. Brewers' top 10 >
Cardinals: Craig's leaping grab in Game 7 (Oct. 28, 2011)
Game 6 of the 2011 World Series endures as one of the best in Fall Classic history, but the Cardinals still had to take care of business in Game 7 after their historic comeback the night before. St Louis took a 5-2 lead into the sixth when Texas' Nelson Cruz hit a rocket to the left-field wall. The ball looked gone, but Craig -- who had hit a tiebreaking homer earlier in the night -- timed his leap perfectly and brought it back, sapping the Rangers of their chance for momentum. The Cards won the game and the championship. Cardinals' top 10 >
Cubs: Martín eliminates the Cards (Sept. 28, 2017)
Robbing a home run to end a ballgame? That's pretty sweet. But doing so in a win that also eliminates your team's fiercest rival? Way sweeter. Leonys Martín's 11th-inning grab did just that, taking the Cardinals out of the postseason picture as the Cubs would capture their second straight NL Central title. Cubs' top 10 >
Pirates: Snider robs a dinger (Sept. 27, 2012)
Mike Baxter played hero for the Mets in the play we referenced earlier, but he was flat-out robbed on this play. That's how baseball works sometimes.
Right fielder Travis Snider seemed to defy gravity, launching his body all the way up the right-field fence at Citi Field and hanging there while he reached his arm several feet above the wall to make a snow-cone snag. High marks for degree of difficulty on this one. Pirates' top 10 >
Reds: Hamilton climbs the wall (July 13, 2018)
Any Reds list of defensive gems was going to include heavy mention of former center fielder Billy Hamilton, and this one might have been his best. Hamilton's wall-scaling, back-tilting catch made Cardinals slugger Matt Carpenter throw his helmet in disgust, but even Carpenter had to admit postgame that Hamilton had simply made one heck of a play. Reds' top 10 >
NL WEST
D-backs: Young's over-the-shoulder grab (Oct. 7, 2011)
In a win-or-go-home Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS, the Brewers threatened to blow a 1-1 game wide open when Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a fly ball to deep center field with a pair of runners on base. But Chris Young was up to the task, twisting and turning and corralling the ball with his back to the infield. Young crashed into the wall but held on to the ball, firing it back to the infield to hold the runners where they were. D-backs' top 10 >
Dodgers: Puig shows off his bazooka (April 22, 2016)
Few players this decade simply amazed with their athletic ability like former Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. That includes this April night in Colorado, when Rockies shortstop Trevor Story thought he had himself a triple ... before Puig unleashed an absolute strike to cut down Story on the fly. Statcast measured Puig's 310-foot throw at 93.5 mph. Dodgers' top 10 >
Giants: Blanco preserves perfection (June 13, 2012)
Grégor Blanco ran down Astros outfielder Jordan Schafer's drive to the right-center-field warning track and dove into the dirt to keep Houston hitless. Righty Matt Cain did the rest, authoring the 22nd perfect game in Major League history. Giants' top 10 >
Padres: Upton goes way up, turns two (June 28, 2016)
Lest anyone forget what a superior athlete B.J. Upton was, take a look back at this game against the Orioles. In the opening frame, Upton smashed a 465-foot homer to center. Then, in the next half-inning, Upton scaled that same center-field fence to bring J.J. Hardy's homer back before firing a 92-mph throw back to first base to double off Mark Trumbo. Padres' top 10 >
Rockies: Arenado, the tarp monster (April 15, 2015)
Surprise, surprise: Nolan Arenado tops the Rockies' list. Colorado's superstar third baseman sprinted and then dove headlong into the rain tarp down the third-base line in San Francisco, tumbling but ultimately gloving Grégor Blanco's foul ball -- and then he nearly doubled off a runner on the basepaths to boot. Arenado later admitted he maybe should have let this ball go, but we're certainly glad he didn't. Rockies' top 10 >
AL EAST
Blue Jays: 'Superman' is born (April 15, 2015)
It was Kevin Pillar's first season as a full-time starter, and this was among the first of countless plays that made the human highlight reel a fan favorite in Toronto. Pillar brilliantly planted his foot into the padding of the wall and propelled himself upward to make this catch at the perfect time. Blue Jays' top 10 >
Orioles: AJ robs Manny -- with the world watching (March 18, 2017)
Two Orioles involved, one indelible play that ranks among the best in the history of international baseball. Adam Jones rose high above the center-field wall and robbed Manny Machado (earning a tip of the cap from his big league teammate), helping Team USA beat the Dominican Republic in the 2017 World Baseball Classic semifinals. Orioles' top 10 >
Rays: Kiermaier robs Machado (Aug. 31, 2015)
Back-to-back robberies of Machado (sorry, Manny) and of course it's Kevin Kiermaier topping the Rays' best-of-the-decade list. Tampa Bay's center-field wizard timed his leap perfectly on this play, gloving Machado's drive just as it was crossing the wall -- and just before Kiermaier's back slammed into the fence. Rays' top 10 >
Red Sox: Benny's epic snag (Oct. 17, 2018)
It's a catch that forever etched Andrew Benintendi into Red Sox lore. Boston won 108 games in the regular season, but closer Craig Kimbrel was in big trouble in Game 4 of the ALCS as the Astros had the bases loaded and trailed by just two. Alex Bregman drove a ball to left that seemed like it would at the very least tie the game. But Benintendi went full extension to make an incredible diving catch, ending the game and causing beloved Red Sox radio announcer Joe Castiglione to literally fall out of his chair. Red Sox' top 10 >
Yankees: Around the horn! (April 22, 2010)
Believe it or not, the Yankees went 42 years without turning a triple play (Mickey Mantle was playing first base for that one, Bobby Cox was at third). That stretch spanned 6,632 regular-season games until A-Rod fielded a Kurt Suzuki grounder in Oakland, stepped on third, relayed to second baseman Robinson Cano and Cano fired to Nick Johnson at first. Yankees' top 10 >
AL CENTRAL
Indians: Jackson flips over the wall (Aug. 1, 2017)
Hanley Ramirez had to be sure he had a dinger when he launched Dan Otero's 0-1 pitch over the center-field wall. And it would have been a homer just about any other time ... except Austin Jackson timed his jump to perfection before launching himself over the wall and snagging the ball in a breathtaking flip into the bullpen. Indians' top 10 >
Royals: Gordon flies into the stands (April 26, 2015)
You don't win seven Gold Glove Awards without making plays like these. Gordon's flying catch into the stands at Guaranteed Rate Field might soon become a thing of the past as clubs extend their stadiums' protective netting down to the foul poles. Royals' top 10 >
Tigers: Iglesias' flick of the wrist (Aug. 12, 2013)
Two weeks after the Tigers traded for José Iglesias, the slick-fielding shortstop showed the club's fans what they would enjoy for years to come. Iglesias sprinted in to corral Josh Phegley's broken-bat chopper and fired to first in one incredible, fluid diving motion. Tigers' top 10 >
Twins: Revere's magical catch (Aug. 22, 2011)
Ben Revere topping the Twins' list instead of Byron Buxton might qualify as an upset, but make sure you revisit Revere's leaping grab that took extra bases from Vladimir Guerrero. Revere covered a ton of ground just to get to the wall in time, and then showed supreme concentration to glove the ball with his back to home plate. Twins' top 10 >
White Sox: Buehrle, Konerko work magic (April 5, 2010)
Mark Buehrle showed why pitchers can make this list too with his acrobatic, tumbling, between-the-legs flip to Paul Konerko (who, it shouldn't be forgotten, snared Buehrle's flip with his bare hand). This play came in the first White Sox game of the decade, and it hasn't been topped on the South Side since. White Sox top 10 >
AL WEST
Angels: Trout robs Hardy (June 27, 2012)
Perhaps the signature play of Trout's unbelievable career (at least, so far) came at Camden Yards, when Trout was still just a rookie. His incredible leaping catch to rob J.J. Hardy of a homer helped put him on the map for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, and it wouldn't be long before every baseball fan knew exactly who manned center field for the Halos. Angels' top 10 >
Astros: High-flying Springer saves the day (April 12, 2015)
Leonys Martín had a walk-off grand slam lined up in Arlington, but George Springer had other plans, timing up his leap and bringing Martín's drive to the corner back for an out. The Astros came back to win that game, thanks to Springer. Astros' top 10 >
Athletics: Laureano puts himself on the map (Aug. 11, 2018)
Just ... wow. That's about all one can say to describe this play from last year, with Ramón Laureano running down Justin Upton's drive to the left-center field warning track that would have qualified as a standalone highlight for most outfielders. But Laureano isn't like most outfielders. He quickly recovered and fired one of the best throws in big league history; a perfectly accurate 321-foot strike right to the chest of first baseman Mark Canha that doubled off Eric Young Jr. Athletics' top 10 >
Mariners: The play Dee Gordon still can't believe (June 8, 2012)
Shortstop Brendan Ryan fielded a slow roller hit by Gordon, the Dodgers' leadoff hitter at the time, and fired to first just in time for the first out of the ninth -- at least in the first-base umpire's judgement. Gordon and former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly still contend that Gordon was safe, but nonetheless it was a great play by Ryan, particularly because it preserved the Mariners' combined no-hitter. Closer Tom Wilhelmsen recorded the final two outs to complete a historic night for Seattle. Mariners' top 10 >
Rangers: Hamilton's clutch division-race catch (Oct. 1, 2015)
The AL West was right down to the wire and the Rangers needed to win every game when Josh Hamilton made a terrific catch on Shane Victorino's long drive to the left-field corner. Hamilton went to the ground in a literal cloud of dust, but he held on to the ball to possibly save a run in a game that Texas went on to win over the Angels. Rangers' top 10 >