August 5th, 2023 at 8:30 am 
by Ron Cervenka Baseball is a game full of surprises. Just when you think something is impossible, the impossible happens; and usually something incredible.
During Friday night’s game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at a sold out Petco Park in downtown San Diego something impossible and incredible happened – not once, but twice – and within minutes of one other.
With no outs in the bottom of the first inning of the then scoreless game and Padres second baseman Ha-Seong Kim on first base having singled off of 24-year-old Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller, always dangerous Dodger-killer Fernando Tatis Jr. ripped a 100.1 mph Miller fastball to very deep right field that had ‘home run’ written all over it.
It was not.
Instead, popular Dodgers centerfielder James Outman made a spectacular leaping catch well over the wall to rob Tatis Jr. of a sure two-run home run.
(SportsNet LA)
And then, in the top half of the very next inning, the top of the second, Outman laced a 95.7 mph four-seam fast ball off of five-time All-Star Padres right-hander Yu Darvish over the wall in right field for a solo home run to make it 1-0 Dodgers in their eventual 10-5 win over the Friars.
(SportsNet LA)
“It felt good, it felt good to stack plays,” the 26-year-old Redwood City, CA native and Dodgers seventh round draft pick in 2018 out of Cal State Sacramento told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame. “You gotta get a, like, a good ball to make a good play on, and you gotta get a good pitch to hit. So, a little luck has to be involved in it, for sure,” added the humble Dodgers outfielder.
“Outie got a good 0-2 mistake heater and hit a homer, but outside of that, we really didn’t threaten much (against Darvish),” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters postgame.
Well done, ‘Outie!’
Play Ball!
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Outman is a very impressive baseball player. Obviously talented, but we fans have seen talented players who fail. Outman by all indications is a hard worker who doesn’t take his talent for granted. Reminds me of US President Calvin Coolidge quote (excerpt) “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.”
Great quote!
Not going to lie, I was not a James Outman fan for quite a while. I considered him mediocre, at best.
Boy was I wrong! He is doing stuff – on both sides of the ball – that I haven’t see from a Dodgers outfielder in years.
Keep it up, “Outie!”
Just don’t high five Kike and wreck your shoulder.
distance on outmans dinger
385 feet.
Outman is quietly doing a great job. Especially for a rookie on a competitive team. I can see him eventually being a solid bplus player 25 hr 85 RBI 265-70 hitter with good defense, base running and obp.
Seeing Outman start the season on fire only to get figured out and then he plummetted, harshly.
Now to see Outman as a come back player in his inaugural season!
Steven? I’d like Outman to be another Bellinger without the injuries. Or Seager!
30 plus hrs
100 plus runs and rbi’s
hitting 300.
juss sayn.