GIF: Reynolds & Showalter: The High Five Gone Wrong

Over the weekend, Mark Reynolds had six hits in 11 official at-bats. Three of those hits were doubles. Two of them were home runs. Reynolds scored four runs, and drove in six, in Baltimore’s sweep of Boston. He even stole a base. Perhaps most unbelievable of all, Reynolds struck out only twice, while walking five times. Mark Reynolds. Walked five times. Four times in one game, actually. Sure, the game lasted 17 innings, but, you say “w-O-B-A,” pronouncing each and every letter distinctly, while I say “wOBA,” pronounced “Whoa-bah.” The point is: Reynolds walked five times. And three of those four walks on Sunday came in the game’s first six innings. Let’s be honest: The Red Sox deserve to be in last place.

But Reynolds’ finest accomplishment of the weekend came Friday night, when, after his third inning solo home run off of Jon Lester, he left his manager, the inspiring Buck Showalter, hanging. GIF of the year. No doubt about it.

Now, we were going to send in our award-winning Investigative Reporting Investigation Team to, you know, investigate, until I realized that The Baltimore Sun’s Investigative Reporting Investigation Team — yes, they’ve got one too — was already all over the story.

“It looked awkward and dicey,” they wrote, “but it wasn’t.” When asked about the incident, Reynolds actually said, “I gave [Showalter] a five when I came back out.”

That’s accountability, right there, folks. Mark Reynolds knew he owed his manager a five, and he gave it to him. He wasn’t about to let an awry high five ruin what’s been an incredible start to the season for Baltimore. This is why the Orioles are in first place in the American League East. This is why the Orioles have taken the “Best Team in Baseball” belt from the Texas Rangers. This is why the Orioles are for real. Maybe.

H/T: The Internet, for sharing this wonderful GIF, but mostly to FanGraphs’ own Jack Moore, who alerted the world to its presence on Saturday afternoon.