When last we checked on large lad Willians Astudillo, he was hoofing it from first to home with the crazed eyes and petrified rictus of a man being chased by wolves. It’s cold now, and dark, and the things of summer are but painful memories, but it turns out baseball is being played somewhere, and where there is baseball there is Willians Astudillo, being a damn hero:
This happened in the postseason of the Venezuelan Winter League, where Astudillo—sporting a blonde perm, by the looks of it— is kicking major butt for Caribes de Anzoategui: Per Cut4, Astudillo hit .325 with an OPS of .870 during the league’s regular season, with just four strikeouts in 235 plate appearances. Tuesday’s game against Navegantes del Magallanes was tied at one run apiece in the bottom of the eighth when our man reached out and smushed the first pitch of the at-bat deep over the wall in left, to put Caribes ahead for good.
When you bash a mighty game-winning dinger from your knees, only the worst kind of person would deny you the right to rest for a moment and watch it sail over the horizon. A job well-done.
H/t Mike