Jo Adell had one of the greatest defensive games of all time on Saturday when he robbed not one … not two … but THREE home runs in the Angels' 1-0 win over the Mariners. The third and final robbery in the ninth inning, when Adell went flipping into the stands in the right-field corner, even produced a once-in-a-lifetime fan photo.
We wanted to know what it was like to be in the building to witness Adell's historic performance. So we asked our reporters who were there covering the game -- Angels reporter Rhett Bollinger and Mariners reporter Daniel Kramer.
Bollinger:
I've seen my fair share of home run robberies during my time covering baseball since 2008, especially at Angel Stadium because of the relatively short height of the fences. But I’ve never seen anything like what Jo Adell did on Saturday night.
It was crazy enough to see Adell take away the first two homers, but the ninth inning is what made it so incredible. Torii Hunter put it best: That it felt like a movie, with Adell disappearing into the stands and everyone wondering if he had caught it, before he triumphantly stood up with his glove raised high near the foul pole.
The fact that it came in a 1-0 win and in front of a sold-out crowd made it even better, because the atmosphere was electric and the catches directly impacted the win. And it made for several iconic photos of Adell. It’s a night I won’t forget anytime soon, and it just shows that anything can happen at the ballpark on any given night.
Kramer:
You always try to be factually, statistically and objectively grounded in these moments.
Yet my first reaction was -- did Griffey ever do anything like this?
I never saw The Kid play in person, but I guarantee he's since seen the highlights from Adell's insane night -- and he must have marveled at it, even if it was against the team that he's still so associated with.
The short answer to the hypothetical -- if Griffey might've had some home-run-robbery record that Adell matched -- is no. As far as anyone can tell (these stats are unofficial and have only recently been tracked), no one ever pulled off a hat trick like that in a single game.
Griffey aside, watching Julio Rodríguez man center field every day has been a marvel in itself. I've seen him rob three home runs in person, and the one he took back from Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2023 -- complete with a crowd-wide fakeout -- was one of the best theatrical performances I've seen on a baseball field.
But what Adell did on Saturday takes the cake. Heck, it takes the whole bakery.
