There's an old saying that it's a poor carpenter who blames his tools but it's definitely not something you should ever say to someone drenched in sweat and at the end of their rope trying to assemble something from IKEA. It's also not an entirely true maxim as sometimes the tools fail the carpenter.
Case in point: last night in Cleveland where the Kansas City Royals got a much-needed victory over the Guardians. First baseman Matt Duffy did everything he could possibly do to catch Bobby Witt Jr.'s throw from shortstop on a very routine play. And then his mitt proved to be both incapable and unwilling to do the job.
You don't see that every day yet you do see it some days. Even the most well-maintained implements can show the effects of wear and tear or prove no match for a 90 mph toss across the diamond. Duffy was correctly yet frustratingly charged with an error on the play because ultimately it's his responsibility. Proving the folly of simply looking at a box score and believing one can get the full scope of what happened in a game.
This article was originally published on thebiglead as Matt Duffy's First Baseman's Glove Explodes, He Gets a Hard-Luck Error.
