I think everyone is over-analyzing how Kikuchi managed to take out Soderstrom. I think the truth is quite simple. Kikuchi had finished reading a book earlier in the game and had fallen asleep in the dugout to catch up on his regular 16 hours. He was woken up by people reacting to the pop up and stumbled in a half dream-like state onto the field.
I think everyone is over-analyzing how Kikuchi managed to take out Soderstrom. I think the truth is quite simple. Kikuchi had finished reading a book earlier in the game and had fallen asleep in the dugout to catch up on his regular 16 hours. He was woken up by people reacting to the pop up and stumbled in a half dream-like state onto the field.
or like you and Scotty, he had 9 pints the night before