Lamb, D-backs laugh off run-scoring tumble
PHOENIX -- Jake Lamb was going so good during the Diamondbacks series in Sa Francisco that even his low moment was one about which he and the rest of the team could laugh.
In scoring from second base in Thursday's series finale, Lamb slid late, got his feet caught underneath himself and tumbled over in a small cloud of dust. Lamb's helmet flew off and he didn't even bother to retrieve it.
"Maybe nobody noticed, Jake," Bob Brenly offered on the broadcast.
It actually turned out to be true of Lamb's teammates, who were watching Paul Goldschmidt in a rundown at that moment. But that is all Lamb could hide from.
The play spread like a wild fire on social media.
Manager Chip Hale heard from college teammates, who suggested the D-backs use cardboard sheets to teach proper sliding, and high school coaches, who wondered who teaches sliding within the organization.
Lamb heard from his older brother, who coaches in the Seattle area.
"He said, 'I always use you as an example. Now I'm going to have to use you as a what-not-to-do example,'" Lamb said Friday before the D-backs opened a 10-game homestand. "I had to apologize to him for that."
Once Lamb's teammates saw replays, they gave it to him in similar fashion. Chris Owings hammered him the most, Lamb said.
"I'm not even embarrassed about it. I thought it was funny," Lamb said. "I was laughing right when it happened. My feet just didn't catch up to me and I ate it."
David Peralta had a good view, as he was the on-deck hitter on the play.
"He was flipping around and I was trying not to laugh," said Peralta, who offered to coach up Lamb on proper sliding technique. "That was the first time I saw Jake slide that bad."
The same goes for Hale, who was able to laugh about it only because Lamb came away unharmed.
"It's funny; it's funny to watch. But we can't have a guy get hurt," Hale said. "So we'll have to talk to him and get him sliding the right way."