An anime by the name of the Diamond no Ace (or Ace of Diamond) recently aired an episode that perfectly recreated a legendary Cleveland Indians defensive play. The connection was made by a Facebook page called Anim-Arte, which posted a video showing the two plays back-to-back. Once you see them so close together, it's impossible to deny where the inspiration for the play in Diamond no Ace came from.

The real-life play occurred on May 19, 2011 in a game against the Chicago White Sox. Former Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel hit a line drive that deflected off the glove of pitcher Joe Smith and changed the trajectory of the ball. Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera had to immediately change direction, and the ball wound up behind him. As you can see in the video, and in the Diamond no Ace clip, Asdrubal was forced to throw the ball behind his back to a waiting Adam Everett for one out then over to Matt LaPorta for the second.

Everything in the Diamond no Ace clip is perfectly replicated -- the deflection off the glove, the behind-the-back throw, and the throw to first. Of course, since this is anime, it includes a whole bunch of pauses and flairs, but the result is still the same. I can't seem to find the exact episode this clip came from, but hopefully, the home team in Diamond no Ace was not behind by seven runs like the Indians were.

It was a fantastic play at the time, and it's really cool to see it immortalized in another medium.