Forget the plays in the field made by Alex Bregman and Xander Bogaerts ... the best catch during Wednesday's ALCS game happened in the stands -- when a Red Sox fan caught a splintered bat with one hand!!
The wild play all went down in the 2nd inning of the Sox's Game 5 tilt with the Astros ... when Rafael Devers broke his bat trying to hit a pitch off Houston starter Framber Valdez.
#RedSox fan catches a Rafael Devers broken bat shard #DirtyWater #ALCS #MLB #AstrosVsRedSox pic.twitter.com/VY72CxuMGC
— Arizona Sports Fan (@SportsAzFan) October 20, 2021
In footage of the play, you can see part of the bat went flying into the crowd -- a very scary sight, considering the piece of lumber had a sharp and jagged edge on it.
But, 41-year-old Matt Ferrera stuck out his hand and managed to catch it regardless ... saving everyone around him and avoiding injury himself.
A piece of a shattered bat flew into the crowd at Fenway and a fan made an incredible catch. pic.twitter.com/dKPFqhdhZv
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2021
Ferrera -- who appeared to be allowed to keep the bat by Fenway Park officials -- told Yahoo Sports' Hannah Keyser after the play his life did not flash before his eyes.
"I just saw the bat coming," Ferrera said. "And I was like, 'I got to grab that thing.'"
Seriously, nice catch ... take notes, players!