This quote from Cardinals' Alec Burleson will make you laugh

Alec Burleson scored the game-tying run in Saturday's big win over the Chicago Cubs on a brilliant slide at home plate. Given his physical stature, Burleson had something to say about his speed after the win.

St. Louis Cardinals v Los Angeles Angels
St. Louis Cardinals v Los Angeles Angels / Jayne Kamin-Oncea/GettyImages

On a 3-and-1 pitch from Mark Leiter, Jr, St. Louis Cardinals' pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter singled to right field with two outs. Alec Burleson, who singled earlier in the inning to start the rally and advanced on Nolan Gorman's single, hustled from second base and challenged right fielder Seiya Suzuki to make the perfect throw home. Suzuki's throw was strong, but it bounced twice to catcher Miguel Amaya for the play at the plate. 

Those bounces caused enough delay for Burleson to sneak his left hand onto the plate before Amaya applied the tag. The critical play happens around the 8:51 march of the St. Louis Cardinals' highlight video. 

The Cardinals, riding high on their recent success, tied the game at 4-4 and clinched a 7-6 victory. This win, their first over their biggest rivals, marked their eighth triumph in their last ten games, a testament to their growing momentum and potential. 

Given Burleson's husky stature at 225 pounds, he is not the most fleet of foot. Statcast has his sprint speed at the 16th percentile. At 25.7 feet per second, Burleson's sprint speed has him ranked … 347th in Major League Baseball. Burleson says he's much faster than people give him credit for. 

"I just want to say I was running above league average. So, I am faster than most of the league. Not most of the league, but half of the league."
Alec Burleson

Technically, he's right, as his sprint to home was measured at 27.6 feet per second by Statcast, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.

Here is a video of Burleson's quote about his hustle and slide in Saturday's win from Corey Miller of KSDK.

Last season started off with the Tyler O'Neill—Oliver Marmol hustle debacle, and we saw how that affected the team. Burleson does not seem to lack hustle. In fact, seeing a confident Burleson and a more confident Cardinals team is refreshing this season. 

Keep it up, Alec!

manual