It was as routine as a play can get – a play that every major league infielder has practiced tens of thousands of times in their lives – or more.

It was a routine play for which there was no excuse for not making, especially in the bottom of the 10th inning of a 3-2 ballgame with two outs, two on, and a 2-2 count on the batter, or “Deuces wild,” as Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully coined and would have said.

Dodgers’ second baseman Max Muncy did not make the routine play but did make an excuse for not making it – at least initially.

“You know, the long, hot day, the field dried out a little bit, and I just didn’t give myself enough space knowing that the ball’s gonna bounce a little higher on the drier field, and the ball hopped up on me, and I … I just didn’t make the play,” Muncy said postgame of his game-losing E-4.

“That was just the field, that’s how dry it got, that’s something that you know as an infielder – that on day games, as the day goes on, the field’s gonna get harder and the ball’s gonna bounce more, and take funny hops, ” Muncy added, when pressed further. “Like I said, I just… it was a slow-hit ball, so I came charging in and then stopped and didn’t give myself enough space knowing it was going to bounce higher. That was an unfortunate circumstance, and I just couldn’t find the ball.”

Asked if his error, coupled with his recent offensive struggles, has him “feeling sorry for himself,” Muncy answered with a grin.

“It certainly feels that way, but, you know, it’s one of those things where I go out there every day, and I try to at least throw something in the bucket, try to do whatever I can to help the team win – whether it’s get a walk, get on base, make a play – and unfortunately today, I took something out of it. I didn’t add to helping the team win.”

The 31-year-old Midland, TX native, and former fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by the Oakland Athletics out of Baylor University in Waco, TX, then (finally) said what upset Dodgers fans expected and needed to hear to move on from this:

“That’s my own fault, and I gotta own up to that.”

There is zero doubt that no one is more upset about Muncy’s devastating error than Muncy himself – something that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed out during his postgame interview.

“He’s a pro; he’s gotta keep going,” Roberts said. “He’s played good defense for us all year; it’s just something that happens. But yeah, right now, he’s grinding; he just hasn’t been able to get going yet this season. So, working hard at the plate, he’s not giving at-bats away, he’s still competing, and, you know, the last thing he wanted to do was not field that ball.”

To add insult to injury (if that were possible), that “grinding” thing reared its ugly head in the top half of the 10th inning when, with one out and the bases loaded, and after the Dodgers had just scored the go-ahead run to make it a 3-2 game, Muncy struck out swinging on a 95-MPH fastball that he will – or at least should – have nightmares about.

On the season, Muncy is 19-for-122 (.156) with 34 strikeouts. He does, however, lead the team (by a considerable margin) with his 31 walks. And even though he has four doubles and a triple through the Dodgers’ first 40 games of the 2022 campaign, he has hit only three home runs.

Grinding indeed.

Play Ball!

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