Lastings Milledge Duped By Pirates Fireworks Into Thinking He Had a Homer

In the fourth inning of Thursday’s between the Pirates and the Cubs, Lastings Milledge clubbed a two-run double off the bottom of the left field wall. But a slip-up by stadium officials resulted in fireworks going off, which caused Milledge to round second in a light jog, presuming it was a home run. Instead, he was tagged out.↵
↵

↵
↵Milledge wasn’t the only one fooled into thinking he had a homer. The broadcaster announcing the play, seeing the high trajectory of the hit, pronounced it gone just before it caromed off the wall. (You can watch the play and listen to the call here.) So too obviously were the entertainment coordinators at the stadium. After all, how often do teams set off fireworks for a double?↵↵Fortunately for Milledge and the fireworks crew, the error had little effect. The double drove in two runs to extend the Bucs lead to 10-0 in a game Pittsburgh went on to win by a score of 11-1. Still, as evidenced above, Milledge had to answer for the error after the game. He took it in stride, but really, he would have been criticized had he trotted slowly to watch his hit leave the park. Instead, he ran hard to second base, then began his home run trot once he heard the fireworks, which are supposed to be a signifier for a homer.↵

↵