Miguel Sano and...Brooks Robinson?

Miguel Sano's spectacular play Tuesday looked remarkably like the one Brooks Robinson made in Cincinnati during the 1970 World Series.

August 16, 2017 at 5:09PM

When Miguel Sano ranged far to his right last night, stretched to field a grounder, threw while his momentum carried him toward the Target Field tarp and bounced a throw to first baseman Joe Mauer, I suddenly felt nostalgic.

The play looked remarkably like the one Brooks Robinson made in Cincinnati during the 1970 World Series. That play, among others, made him the Series MVP.

So when Sano made his play, I tweeted the comparison. After the game, without offering any hints, I asked Twins manager Paul Molitor if he had seen that kind of play before.

And Molitor mentioned "Brooksy."

After his press conference, Molitor asked me who the batter was who hit the ball to Robinson. It was Lee May. ``Right runner, then," Molitor said.

May was slow and the Cincinnati turf was hard, enabling Robinson to make that play. Sano made his play on a soft grass field against a fast runner in Austin Jackson.

I won't say Sano's play was better. But it was similar. And that's meaningful, that a player of Sano's power and bulk can handle third base like one of the best ever to play the game.

--------------

Tonight at Hell's Kitchen we'll run the Russo-Souhan Show at 6, then John Millea's Preps (should we call it Prepapalooza?) at 6:45. Please stop by for live questions, watch on HK's facebook live page or listen later at MNSPN.com, the site where all of our shows are stored.

@Souhanstrib

about the writer

about the writer

Jim Souhan

Columnist

Jim Souhan is a sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune. He has worked at the paper since 1990, previously covering the Twins and Vikings.

See More

More from Twins

card image

Travis Adams helped rescue an older man from a burning house in March 2024. “There wasn’t even a second thought,” he said about the decision he made.