You might have heard about -- or seen clips of -- Daulton Varsho's incredible catch Tuesday night. I've watched it about a dozen times and still don't know how he did it.
Playing his first game of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays, the 2024 Gold Glove winner was in center field when Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran drove a pitch from Dillon Tate to deep center. Varsho isn't the fastest center fielder in the league, but no outfielder gets better jumps and reads than him, and he leads all outfielders since 2022 in the outs above average metric via Statcast.
Varsho reacted quickly and drifted back but then stumbled and fell on the warning track. He rolled over once, popped up on to one knee and with his back facing home plate, he reached out his outstretched glove and made the backhanded catch. It was a crossroads of enormous skill and luck, but one thing is certain: There has never been a catch like it, at least not one that exists on video.
"Oh my goodness, did he just do that?" exclaimed Red Sox broadcaster Dave O'Brien. "A circus catch if you have ever seen one."
Blue Jays announcer Dan Shulman was equally amazed: "Did he catch that ball? Yes, he caught that ball!"
Varsho smiled sheepishly after getting back up on his feet. Tate raised both arms and then tipped his cap.
"When I fell, I was like, 'Oh boy, it's going to be somewhat near me,'" Varsho said. "I saw it kind of really quick and kind of stuck my glove out."
Boston's Alex Bregman called it one of the greatest catches he had ever seen.
Well ... is it? The greatest catch ever? Let's compare it to some of the greatest outfield plays of all time.
Ken Griffey Jr. robs Jesse Barfield of a home run (1990)
What makes this one special: The most iconic catch of Griffey's career, he had to run forever just to get to the ball and then had to time his leap perfectly. Seattle Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs absolutely crushes the call, but what makes it so memorable is the pure joy on Griffey's face as he holds the ball above his head and runs in with that million-dollar smile.
Degree of difficulty: 9.3. While Griffey had to run a long way, the ball did hang up a bit, so he was never really in a dead sprint to get there.
Edge: Varsho. Varsho's degree of difficulty is so high, not just because of the stumble, but because he had to roll over and somehow still kept his eye on the ball.
Devon White in the World Series (1992)
What makes this one special: It came in the World Series -- and nearly turned into a triple play! In fact, if there had been replay in 1992, it would have been a triple play.
Degree of difficulty: 8.5. White was an underrated center fielder and he made this play look easier than it was, but the difficulty wasn't quite as extreme as I remembered at the time.
Edge: Sticking with Varsho.
Masafumi Yamamori scales the chain-link fence (1981)
What makes this one special: If you're of a certain age, you either remember this play from "This Week in Baseball" or those between-inning highlight reels that teams would play on the fuzzy big scoreboard screens at the stadium.
Growing up going to Mariners games at the Kingdome, I must have seen Yamamori make this catch hundreds of times.
Degree of difficulty: 9.4. This stands out more for its uniqueness, although you have to give Yamamori credit for his ingenuity in climbing the fence in the first place.
Edge: I'll still go with Varsho. Once Yamamori reached the top of the fence, he was in a pretty stable position to make the play.
Jim Edmonds with the over-the-head diving catch (1997)
What makes this one special: Edmonds was playing shallow for the light-hitting David Howard and had to track the ball as it was hit right over his head, look over his shoulder and then still somehow make the catch while diving with his back facing away from the batter.
Degree of difficulty: 9.9. Edmonds, who won eight Gold Gloves, had a reputation for, shall we say, "enhancing" the difficulty of his catches with unnecessary dives, but there was no enhancing on this one.
Edge: Tough call here and Edmonds' catch is a stunner, but it feels like we've at least seen similar versions of this play. I'm going with Varsho. Barely.
The Gary Matthews Spider-Man catch (2006)
What makes this one special: Matthews ended up all twisted around as he crashed into the outfield wall, so he actually ends up making the catch with his glove facing forward instead of backhanded as you would expect.
Degree of difficulty: 9.5. High, no doubt, although I think the awkwardness of how the play looks makes it appear a little more difficult than it might have been.
Edge: Varsho. We've seen spectacular home run robberies, but Varsho's twisted catch seems even more unbelievable than Matthews' twisted catch.
Endy Chavez in the NLCS (2006)
What makes it so special: Matthews' catch might not have even been the best of that year as New York Mets outfielder Chavez made this spectacular home run robbery of Scott Rolen in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. It kept the game tied at the time. Unfortunately for Mets fans, the St. Louis Cardinals would end up winning anyway.
Degree of difficulty: 9.8. Chavez not only had a long way to run but his flying leap at the wall came right off a dead sprint with no time to really measure the flight of the ball and he had to hold on through the impact of hitting the wall. When you see the replay, it looks even more amazing when you realize how far past the wall the ball was when Chavez caught it.
Edge: This always feels like one of the more underrated great catches, but I'll go with Varsho again. But just barely.
Willie Mays makes 'The Catch' (1954)
What makes this one special: The most famous catch in MLB history. A young Mays, 23 years old, impossibly tracking Vic Wertz's long drive at the Polo Grounds during Game 1 of the World Series, his hat falling off as he makes the over-the-shoulder basket catch and then whirls around and throws the ball back to the infield. Mays' catch kept the score tied in a game the Giants would win in extra innings -- on their way to a World Series sweep over Cleveland. Giants fans were said to have wept tears when he made the play.
Degree of difficulty: 9.9. Remember, center field at the Polo Grounds was as big as Central Park. The ball probably traveled at least 425 feet. But was it the greatest catch ever? Mays himself would say he made greater catches. But, as Joe Posnanski wrote, "It's the catch that matters most." Heck, I even have a T-shirt with Mays making this play.
Edge: Hey, if Willie himself said he made greater plays, can it really be the greatest catch of all time? I'm going with Varsho.
With apologies to many other fantastic catches -- heck, Tyrone Taylor of the Mets made his own ridiculous diving catch on Tuesday as well -- Varsho's catch will be remembered for a long time. It obviously wasn't the most difficult play of all time to begin with, although Statcast gave Duran's fly ball an expected batting average of .910. But that was before Varsho stumbled. That stumble gives it a clear degree of difficulty of 10.0.
It is not, however, the greatest catch of all time. I'm going with another that had the highest degree of difficulty:
Dewayne Wise preserves Mark Buehrle's perfect game (2009)
What makes it so special: Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was three outs away from a perfect game when Gabe Kapler seemingly ended it with a long drive to left-center field to lead off the ninth inning. Wise, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, raced back at full speed and robbed a home run as he crashed into the wall and held on to the ball while falling to the ground. As White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson said: "Mercy!"
Degree of difficulty: 10.0. Given the circumstances of that moment in the game, the degree of difficulty ramps up even higher.
Edge: Wise. After Buehrle got the final two outs, Wise's catch then provided two lasting memories: the catch and the perfect game. The greatest catch ever.