Coco Crisp makes one of the most sensational catches
ever seen at Fenway Park

ON THIS DATE (June 29, 2006) ... On a night the Sox tied the major league record for most consecutive games without committing an error (16), Crisp made what immediately becomes first among equals of great defensive plays made this season by these leather craftsmen. With Mike Timlin trying to preserve the 3-2 lead that the Sox created in National League fashion with Jason Varitek's sacrifice fly accounting for the tying run in the sixth, and a bunt single, stolen base, sacrifice bunt, and sacrifice fly giving the Sox the lead in the seventh, the Mets wunderkind David Wright smashed a drive headed to the gap in left-center in the eighth.

With a fast runner, Carlos Beltran, on first after a single, the sellout crowd of 36,028 was braced for a tie game. Crisp, however, didn't get that memo, taking off at the crack of the bat and then flinging himself, glove outstretched, at a ball that appeared behind him. Alter the timing by a microsecond, and Wright is standing at least on second with a double, and more likely on third with a triple. Instead, Wright found himself headed back to the dugout, the webbing of Crisp's glove intercepting Wright's bid for extra bases and denying the Mets the chance to draw even. Timlin's reaction to the play differed little from anyone else who witnessed the play, his jaw dropping as he mouthed the word "Wow," before thrusting his fist in the air.

"Everybody in the infield raised their hands just out of instinct," second baseman Mark Loretta said. "It was one of those [plays] that gave you chills. The first thing you're thinking is that ball's in the gap, it's tied, OK, now it's a man on second or third or inside the park who knows? He came out of nowhere. It was incredible."

"Under the circumstances, the time of the game, the score, and everything like that, I don't think I've ever seen a better play," Sox manager Terry Francona said. "That was an incredible play."

"You can't," said Mike Lowell, "save a game any more spectacular than that."