Well, here's something you don't see every day -- or ever, for that matter.
In the seventh inning of the St. Louis Cardinals' game against the visiting Chicago Cubs on Thursday, a pitched ball bounced off the dirt and hit the chest protector of catcher Yadier Molina.
Molina then stood up in an effort to locate the baseball. His efforts were futile, as he looked everywhere except where the baseball actually was: right under his nose.
Indeed, the baseball decided to stick to Molina's chest protector. How? We're not sure.
This is amazing pic.twitter.com/f0N41YNV1H
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) April 6, 2017
It miiiiight be time for Yadier Molina to schedule his next eye appointment. #SCNotTop10 pic.twitter.com/L2ITAopDHV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 6, 2017
It's possible that some loose threads on Molina's chest protector got tangled up with the stitches on the baseball. But another theory suggested by a number of fans is Molina's chest protector was covered in a foreign substance such as pine tar. Such a substance is illegal to apply to baseballs, according to MLB Rule 3.02, which reads:
"No player shall intentionally discolor or damage the ball by rubbing it with soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sand-paper, emerypaper or other foreign substance."
To be clear, this is all 100 percent speculation at this point. However, if MLB finds Molina had pine tar on his chest protector in an effort to prevent balls from bouncing too far from the catcher and lessening the chances of a wild pitch or passed ball -- the seven-time All-Star could be facing a 10-game suspension, according to Rule 3.02.
For what it's worth, Molina didn't care for a question about the incident after the game, which the Cardinals lost.
Molina didn't like the "dumb question" but said he doesn't put anything on his chest protector. Didn't know how the ball stuck. #STLCards
— Brian Stull (@StullySTL) April 6, 2017
Molina repeated "I don't know" when asked about the mystery ball. Said "That's a dumb question" when asked if he put something on protector.
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) April 6, 2017
