‘Flying Squirrel’ goes airborne into net for catch
CHICAGO — The Flying Squirrel knows no bounds.
Another Mets victory, this one a 4-0 blanking of the White Sox on Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field to extend their winning streak to seven, featured the stellar starting pitching and sufficient offense that have defined this run. This one, however, included a bonus: All-Star Jeff “Flying Squirrel” McNeil leaping into the newly extended netting here in right field after snaring Eloy Jimenez’s foul ball, on the run, in the fifth inning.
“Kind of fun,” a bashful-looking McNeil said after the game. “You’ve seen catchers and stuff go into the net. It’s going to spring you back in.”
That it did. Prior to this White Sox homestand, when the team expanded its netting to the foul poles as a response to some high-profile fan injuries around the game, McNeil would have had no choice but to let the momentum take him directly into the seats.
“It would’ve been unfortunate for whoever’s in the front row,” he said, “but I’m going in the stands on that.”
Still a relatively new outfielder, McNeil said he knew of the net’s existence yet hadn’t contemplated how to factor it into his play before Jimenez sent him on his date with destiny.
“Yeah, I knew the net was there, and I knew it was going to be really close,” McNeil said. “I caught it, just jumped up. That fence is really low, too, so you don’t want to stop there. The best-case scenario there is jump into the net and use it for my protection.”
He did so expertly, looking like a charming rodent caught in a trap, only to escape triumphantly. And in the process, not only did he help the Mets win again, but he showed all teams — and commissioner Rob Manfred, who has declined to publicly pressure owners on this issue — the value of expanded netting.
“All fields should have that,” Mickey Callaway said. “It actually saved him from maybe getting hurt. You kind of commit and you dive into a soft net. It’s like diving into a trampoline at a circus or something. It’s not only saving the fans, but maybe we’re saving players.”