San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy, apparently still feeling the effects of nitrous oxide from earlier emergency dental surgery, almost turned Travis Ishikawa's walk-off home run into a double by blocking him from reaching home plate after Ishikawa hit a ball over the wall to win the National League Championship Series in game 5 on Thursday night.
Hours earlier, Peavy needed an emergency trip to the dentist after he chipped his teeth using them to try and open a packet of gum in the dugout, according to a yahoo.com story.
Full of World Series joy and without his glasses, Peavy mistakenly thought the ball hadn't gone over the wall. After Ishikawa's three-run homer, many Giants players ran to greet Ishikawa between second and third on his way home, but Peavy was the first to reach him.
Ishikawa screamed at Peavy, "Move! I hit it out!" as the pitcher tried for a hug. Peavy said he looked around for teammates to hug and said, "Where's everybody at? We're going to the World Series, y'all."
It is technically against MLB rules for coaches or teammates to help a player around the bases. But you're apparently allowed to touch them if you're trying to stop them and celebrate.
In another dental-related Giants story, Ishikawa met his wife, Rochelle, literally by accident. He was hit in the mouth with a pitch one night in the minors in 2004, and the next morning, with his mouth and face swollen, he met a dental assistant whom he would later marry, according to Fox Sports.