Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, standing on third base in the fifth inning Friday night with the Tampa Bay Rays up by one, may have been thinking back to the first time he stole home.
"The biggest thing," he said back in 2009 after he first pulled off what Sports Illustrated called "the most exciting play in baseball," is "getting the courage to go."
He got the courage to go -- again.
With nerves cold as ice and road-runner legs, Ellsbury committed one of the boldest steals of home in recent MLB history Friday night, dropping jaws of Yankees fans and foes.
Stealing home is rare in baseball, and Ellsbury’s thievery is even more notable because he did it unassisted. The catcher wasn’t pulled out of position by a wild pitch, and no other base runner was making moves. And there were two outs.
Ellsbury just went for it.
As Bleacher Report reports, Ellsbury has quite a rap sheet for stealing home -- with nine now credited to him. He has averaged 37 steals of all bases per season over the last three years, SB Nation notes.
The Yankees went on to beat the Rays, 6 to 3.
Ellsbury played for the Red Sox when he stole home the first time -- in a game against the Yankees.
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