On a Monday evening, fans in Cleveland and Detroit argued over whether a catch was a catch. But it wasn't as the Browns and Lions played football. It was during the ALDS as the Cleveland Guardians battled the Detroit Tigers.
Steven Kwan's diving catch in the eighth inning saved a run for the Guardians, but not everyone thought it was a catch at all.
The left fielder raced to get his glove under the ball to prevent Wenceel Perez's liner from scoring any of the two men on base. Miraculously, he got there and ended the inning, keeping the game at 0-0.
While the whole baseball world marveled at the effort, the question of whether he actually got his glove under that ball couldn't be ignored. And as expected, MLB's replay review center took a look, but the call stood as called on the field.
The debates were already raging by then.
What's a catch? You decide if Steven Kwan made the play
You had those (many Tigers fans, but not exclusively loyal to Detroit) who felt Kwan trapped the ball but couldn't possibly have made the catch without the ball hitting the grass.
Detroit tigers just got screwed out of a run , that was NOT a catch!!!
— RX Napoleon (@TA_Napoleon) October 7, 2024
That is so not a catch lol. It hit the ground. NFL all over again. https://t.co/uf1SFWCtNp
— Johnny Venezia (@_JohnnyVTV) October 7, 2024
Not catch for the record. Impossible that ball doesn’t hit the ground. pic.twitter.com/o1e7mSKW62
— LineProphet.com (@LineProphetLLC) October 7, 2024
Then you had those (many Guardians fans but not exclusively loyal to Cleveland), who believed the umpires and replay command center got the call right.
Stephen Kwan, fantastic catch. And the call on field was correct.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) October 7, 2024
Ball never hit the ground.
You can debate if that was a catch or not but there's no view that shows the ball definitively on the ground
— RushingBaseball (@RushingBaseball) October 7, 2024
I didn’t think Kwan had a chance in hell of catching that ball.
— Adam the Bull (@adamthebull) October 7, 2024
Impossible to tell for sure on the replay, but I think it was a clean catch.
Amazing, fucking amazing!!
And then you had the rest of us, who aren't quite sure what a catch is in the NFL or MLB, apparently.
I’ve watched the Kwan catch replay 40 times and I still have no idea if that was a catch or not.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) October 7, 2024
The Tigers didn't get their runs in the eighth, but maybe it was a "ball don't lie" situation in the ninth. Kerry Carpenter smashed a 423-foot home run to bring home three runs and give Detroit a massive lead.