Wake Up With The Best Bat Flip I've Ever Seen By Tom Lawless (Who?)

This may be my favorite bat flip for a home run EVER. My cousin texted me this video yesterday and I hadn’t seen it or heard about it, let alone heard of Tom Lawless. I knew I had to make this a walk up, fast forward to the 1:00 mark to see the fireworks. I did a little more digging, and MLB.Com actually named this the #1 bat flip of all time.

This happened in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series where the Cardinals would go on to win this game, 7-2. Tom Lawless steps into the box with 2 men on in the 4th inning. Now let me tell you a little something about this guy, Tom Lawless. He STUNK at baseball. Like, he legitimately was a bad baseball player, it’s unreal that he was in the league for as long as he was. In this 1987 season he batted .080 in 25 at-bats, I mean come onnnnn. His wikipedia page said he struggled to hit major league pitching…..uhhhh ya think?

Lawless played in 343 games in 8 seasons, only getting 590 plate appearances over that time. For his career he hit .207, had an OBP of .263, had a Slugging % of 258, and an OPS of .521. A .521 OPS!!!! The guy could steal a base though, he had 53 career swipes, and got thrown out 13 times. The problem was he couldn’t get on base enough. Over that borderline Hall Of Fame career, Lawless had 110 hits, 17 doubles, 2 triples and 2 home runs. Yes, 2 career home runs. I just don’t understand how this guy stayed in the league that long if he was this bad. He did only make 13 errors in his career though, so at least he could flash the leather. But I digress.

So Lawless is at the plate, and sends a ball to left field.  It’s not a bomb by any means, in fact, it looks like it barley makes it over the wall. The videos shows the team celebrating, the Twins looking upset, the pitcher and managers in shock, that is because the guy with 2 career homers and a .207 lifetime average just went yaya on the big stage. At the 1:00 mark we see Lawless hit the ball, watching it, and then he begins walking, taking his sweet ass time down to first. Ball goes over the wall and my man chucks the bat with one hand, sending the bat flipping end over end. Watching how he acted after he hit the ball, I’d assume that ball went at least 560 and he had hit 900 home runs in his life.

The bat flip is just perfect. It’s perfect. I didn’t know who Tom Lawless was before yesterday, but now I feel like I can’t live without him. I want everyone to live their lives with the conference of Tom Lawless.

PS. His Wikipedia page also says he’s from Erie, PA. Stay hot, Erie!

PSS. How the hell was he traded straight up for Pete Rose?