On Sunday, SB Nation made the case for why Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is so “hilariously awesome.” Some of it has do with the fact that (as we’ve noted before) he really, really doesn’t like his head to be touched.
The post concludes with a couple of GIFs from Saturday’s Rangers game against the Seattle Mariners, in which Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus playfully antagonizes Beltre in the middle of the game, once touching his head during a visit to the mound (see it above), and another time calling for a fly ball that Beltre had already claimed as his (see that after the jump). You know your team is doing well (the Rangers are tied for the American League’s best record) when teammates can get away with these shenanigans without causing a clubhouse uproar.
Here’s how Grant Brisbee of Baseball Nation describes the Andrus-Beltre dynamic:
This is almost certainly the most compelling storyline in sports today, and if you’re not caught up, it shouldn’t take too long. Everyone needs a stodgy-yet-secretly-playful workmate like Beltre. Everyone needs a jackass workmate like Andrus. It’s like watching nature’s perfect design. There’s probably some way to fit Andrus and Beltre’s interactions into a flowchart that follows the Fibonacci sequence.
This is more great GIF work by DShep25. You may remember him from such GIFs as this beauty.
