FORT MYERS, Fla. • It's the bat flip that pinwheeled into infamy for traveling almost as far away from the hitter as the ball was close to the wall.
In the fourth inning of Game 4 of the 1987 World Series -- between the two teams meeting again Monday afternoon for a spring game here at Hammond Stadium -- the score was knotted, 1-1, and the Cardinals had two runners on for their eighth-place hitter, Tom Lawless. You know where this is going.
Twins starter Frank Viola had struck Lawless out in his previous at-bat, and here he was again ahead in the count, 0-1.