Giants balldude gets a hard reminder that baseball isn’t easy

During Monday night’s contest between the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds, a Giants balldude had an experience that many infielders can relate to. He misjudged a ball, it slipped right through his legs, and he had to go chasing after it. On live TV.

It was the top of the eighth inning, and Adam Duvall was batting for the Reds. On the 2-2 pitch, he smacked the ball foul and it bounced toward the third base line. The balldude was there to make the play, one he’s probably made before. And for a split second, it looked like he’d done it. The ball disappeared, which meant it was probably in his glove. Right?

Then, suddenly, the ball reappeared, squirted behind his legs and rolled away. The balldude (who the Giants announcers identified as Paul Robinson) ran after it, covering his head with his arms as he went. The ball definitely wasn’t in his glove.

To look on the bright side, Robinson did so many things right. He got to the ball. His form looked good. He crouched and put the glove close to the ground so he could easily scoop up the ball. Unfortunately, the glove wasn’t in the right place, which kinda ruins everything else he did up to that point in the play.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

Fortunately, Robinson seemed to take it all in stride. He went back to his stool in foul ground and appeared to be smiling while he was talking to a fan. As more than a few infielders can confirm, that kind of thing happens every now and then. Players make baseball look so easy, but no one should forget that it’s actually really hard.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – –

Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher