San Francisco Giants & The Week That Was: First Week of May

Play of the Week: Joe Panik‘s Basketball Tryouts

There were a lot of plays over the past week that were up for consideration for the Giants’ top plays. Matt Duffy‘s 13th inning walk-off double, Duffy’s over-the-shoulder basket catch, and Mac Williamson‘s solid diving play in left field were all nice, but nobody could outshine Joe Panik as he did his best Kareem Adbul-Jabbar impression on Saturday.

In the top of the 13th inning with two out, the Rockies had a runner on first, the potential go-ahead run, with Gerardo Parra at the plate. Derek Law delivered a 2-1 pitch, and Parra grounded a ball up the middle. With the game on the line, Panik moved to his right and channeled the 2014 World Series when he went into a dive to get a glove on the ball.

Parra’s ball wasn’t hit as well as Eric Hosmer‘s in game seven in 2014, and Panik had to improvise. While laying on his stomach on the cut of the outfield grass, Panik lofted the ball towards second base over his head with his right hand. The ball floated through the air while Nolan Arenado charged towards second, and Brandon Crawford made a long stretch while keeping his foot on the bag.

Second base umpire Jim Reynolds made the initial safe call, but manager Bruce Bochy disputed the ruling and after a fairly short review, it was overturned and Arenado was called out and a candidate for play of the year was sealed. To make this play even better, Duffy delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom half, and Law earned his first career major league win.

Next: Giant Killer of the Week