Did Eli White make the catch of the season?

In the top of the first inning, Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi cracked one deep to straightaway center. It was a sure-thing three-run blast. And then something amazing happened. Eli White, stretching out every inch of his six-foot-three frame went waist high on the eight-foot wall. Nearly falling into the bullpen, White pulled himself back down into deep center field with the baseball in his glove. Eli White robbed Choi of a home run.

Choi had made it to first base and watched, amazed, with the rest of us. After the astounding catch, Choi simply stood, laughing. He appreciated the unlikeliness and sheer beauty of a play like that. Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat to the opposition.

After the game, White said, “That was kind of the play I’ve been dreaming about since I started playing outfield.”

Rangers starter Glenn Otto was fully appreciative of the way that White saved his bacon after hanging a change-up on Choi. “The amount of extension he got and the vertical, I don’t know if we have any numbers on that, but I’ve never seen or been a part of anything like it. He’s one of the most athletic guys I’ve been around. Maybe he’s Spider-Man. It saved me honestly.”

Both team managers expressed their awe, with the Rays Kevin Cash saying, “Ji-Man got a lot of that baseball. I thought it was a homer off the bat, but Eli White…that was just a tremendous play.”

Rangers manager Chris Woodward called it one of the best plays he has ever seen. “Just how high he got. He just kept going up, he kept rising. I’ve said this many times, this guy is the best athlete we have in the organization, so it’s not surprising at all.”

They say that offense puts runs on the board but defense wins games. Eli White, not content to hold up the defensive side of that equation, also did his part on the offense as well, ripping his own two-run shot to center field in the bottom of the second.

The Rangers stayed in firm control of the game from that point on and a Jonah Heim solo shot in the fifth rouned out the long balls for the evening, but the catch by White in center field stands out in the mind as the game-winning moment.

The Rays had some momentum going into that pitch, and with one leap, White deflated their balloon. The Rays kept the game within reach, but they were always punching from the back foot and an error plus two long doubles in the sixth gave the Rangers that “bloop and a blast” that they needed to put the game out of reach. The Rays pulled a few runs back, but it was simply not their day. The Rangers won this one 9-5.

Watch the condensed game on MLB.com