Cool things happen all the time in the game of professional baseball. One of the best things about the age we live in is the ability to have most of those things available for all to see. Reading baseball history is great, but there’s something to be said about being able to cue up a video and actually watch the cool thing that happened. One such cool thing that I’m glad is documented for posterity recently took place during an American Association game.
What makes this cool is that Correlle Prime isn’t a pitcher. Prior to the night of May 17th, Prime had appeared in one inning in 2019 where he was easily knocked around and couldn’t throw strikes. He’s not a two-way player and has never been positioned as such. Prime is a position player who swings a mean bat. He’s on the Milwaukee Milkmen for the pop in his bat, which is why when their game against the Cleburne Railroaders began he was in the designated hitter slot.
All of a sudden in the top of the sixth inning Prime saw himself on the mound. It’s unclear why this happened in a game the Milkmen were losing two to one while Cleburne had a runner on second with two outs. The reason Prime found himself on the mound is of less interest to me than what he did once he toed up against the rubber. He struck out the first batter he faced to end the Railroaders’ threat in the top of the sixth and proceeded to launch a two-run dinger that gave the Milkmen the lead. Prime followed that up by striking out the side in the top of the seventh.
The Milkmen slugger looked right at home on the mound. Confusing Railroaders hitters with a sharp curveball and slider combo that built off of a two-seam fastball with plenty of giddy-up behind it. For four hitters Prime looked like a terrific pitcher and I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to recapture that moment again. I don’t believe this is the beginning of a two-way odyssey for the right-handed slugger. He’s not going to suddenly become a weapon out of the pen for Franklin, Wisconsin’s professional squad. Or maybe he will, which would be great and prove me completely wrong.
No, as fun as Correlle Prime two-way stud would be, this was a one-off situation. It’s one of those baseball moments that is awesome to behold and can’t truly be explained. For this one night, Prime put on a show over 1.1 innings on the mound and one turn at the dish that rivaled anything else ever done on the baseball field. As someone who is eternally fascinated with two-way players seeing Prime shine for a brief second in that role was fun to watch. I’m glad it was caught on camera because this is the sort of baseball happening that needs to be preserved in some form. Baseball is a great game, Prime’s night is but one example of how great the game can be.
Lead photo courtesy of Correlle Prime – Twitter
