I already knew Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen was as calm, cool and collected as they come on a baseball field. What I didn't realize until Friday, however, was just how subtlety smooth McCutchen can be even in the face of a potentially embarrassing situation.
As captured by Root Sports in Pittsburgh, McCutchen was nearly faked out of his cleats by Dodgers right-hander Stephen Fife on a bluff pickoff move towards second base during the third inning of Pittsburgh's 3-0 victory on Friday night. It was like one of those NBA crossover dribbles you see giffed all the time. McCutchen was so caught off guard that he lunged back to bag before realizing no play was on. That was the worst of it. Then, once he did realize the situation and how it may have looked on TV, he elected to uniquely and entertainingly dance (or shuffle) the final few feet back to the base.
Basically it was a "you made me look foolish, now I'm going to get my cool points back real quick" all within one chain of events.
And it succeeded.
Check it out in Vine form courtesy of Bryant Bokovitz.
Honestly, I don't know if this is typical of McCutchen under the circumstances or if it was something he tried spur of the moment, but I definitely got a kick out of it. My only concern now is that seeing as how these types of things — quirky dances, poses, celebrations, so on — catch on via social media and blogs these days, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the McCutchen Shuffle becomes a thing.
Please don't consider this as me encouraging such a fad. I enjoyed McCutchen's version under the circumstances. But I'm afraid we'll soon be watching videos of people doing the McCutchen Shuffle through Times Square and all other points of the world. I don't think I'm prepared to handle that.
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