WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – Steven Souza Jr. gave an oral history Monday of his spectacular catch for the final out yesterday to preserve teammate Jordan Zimmermann’s first-career no-hitter, saying, “I would have broken my neck and laid on the ground if I had to to catch that ball for him.”
Souza, in speaking with 106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier, said he’s been inundated with text messages and Tweets in the time since making his spectacular catch, which, not only sealed the first no-hitter in franchise history, but also the Nationals 96th win to conclude the regular season.
“I’ve had to constantly keep my phone on the charger just from vibrations of text messages and Twitter feed blowing up, and whatnot. It’s been insane,” Souza said. “I think I got a text message from someone who got my number back when I was in fifth grade, which is insane.”
Speaking of the catch specifically — a 2-1 curveball to Christian Yelich — Souza said the long fly ball hit in the prior at-bat by Jarrod Saltalamacchia for the second out led him to believe if there a play needed to made for anything close for the final out, that Michael Taylor, playing in center field, would take it.
“When Saltalamacchia hit that ball to center, I really wanted [Michael Taylor] — Mike has such beautiful range in center field that I knew that he could get to anything — so when Saltalamacchia hit that ball and Mike caught it, I knew it was big and we had a huge shot, and so I’m sitting there 2-1, I actually moved in and over because Yelich can hit the ball the other way pretty well, but he had really hit on that line all day, so we moved in and over to take away the flare and didn’t want to lose it that [way],” Souza said.
“Lo and behold, he hits a screamer in the gap and I just remember my first step being back, and as soon as it was hit, I didn’t think I had a chance,” he remembered. “And the closer I got, I thought ‘Oh, man, I have a chance to lay out for this.’
“And then once I got there, I was in such an awkward angle that I had to dive backward, and all I remember is ‘I’m going for it’ and I caught it. It all happened in slow-motion, so when I was in mid-air I thought, ‘I’m gonna come down so hard, that I better cover this thing up,’ and so I covered it up with two hands and held onto it. That was the last thing. I might have gotten boo’d out of that stadium if I dropped that ball.'”
On realizing the ball off Yelich’s bat was gonna make for a difficult play, Souza said, “As soon as it was hit, I mean my heart like sunk, because it looked like it literally just split me and Michael.”
“I mean there must have been some side-spin on it where it came back, but I just thought, ‘Oh, my Gosh,'” he said. “I’m telling you, praise God, because I don’t think I have that gear in me all the time, but I just took off and everything in me wanted me to catch that ball for him, and I would have broken my neck and laid on the ground if I had to to catch that ball for him.”
Souza was asked what kind of acknowledgment teammates gave Zimmermann on the bench, as they collectively realized he had a chance to pitch a no-hitter.
“What’s really funny is, you always kind of notice ‘Oh, he’s got a no-hitter going’ until about, something happens usually where something’s pretty close where it gets broken up at about around the fifth inning,” he said. “And around the fifth inning, that play that — I don’t remember who hit it down the line where it was like a swinging bunt; it might have even been Yelich — where Jordan picked it up and touched first. That’s when everybody kinda goes ‘Oh, we might have something here.'”
Souza, hilariously, threw teammate Tyler Moore under the bus as the only guy in the dugout who had no idea what was going on, “I know that T-Mo — I’m gonna call him out on radio — but he had no idea we had a no-hitter going until the ninth inning.”
“He didn’t know until the ninth??” Paulsen asked.
“He had no idea,” Souza said. “Which actually probably benefited him because he wasn’t playing with any sort of extra pressure. But it was great, we were laughing about it.”
Prior to entering the game in the ninth as a defensive replacement for Ryan Zimmerman, Souza, knowing what could be at stake, began physically and mentally preparing himself under the stadium for whatever big moment may present itself, doing extra stretching, running sprints and even conducting a series of eye drills.
“I did everything to get ready for that inside,” Souza said.
Zimmermann, in his post-game press conference, admitted he would have to think of some sort of compensation to gift to Souza in exchange for his incredible no-hitter-saving catch. He sent a text to Souza last night, Souza says.
“Have you talked to him about what you want yet?” Paulsen asked. “Is there a present on the way? Has anything been ordered?”
“Does it have four wheels and a steering wheel?” Rouhier joked.
“I don’t know that’s it gonna have four wheels and steering wheel,” Souza laughed. “He texted me last night, we talked a little bit, he said ‘thank you’ and whatnot, and he said he’s gonna get me something. And I put ‘Lamborghini?’ And he said ‘not that big.'”
“Really, honestly, I don’t even expect a thing,” he added. “It’s one of those things where I’ve been with him since ’07. I mean we may not have been on the same team, but we hang out on the bench all the time, and he’s just a good friend of mine. Making that catch and watching him smile — watching his reaction to think that it was gonna be a sure-double, those things are all that are important to me. Not so much the gifts and whatnot.”
Listen to the full interview with Steven Souza Jr. below.
