Yes, the Bae play was more difficult to make and I do agree that a good left fielder could have taken a much better route and been in a position to camp under the Meadows ball to catch it. That’s the point I’ve been making. I don’t think even a good LF could have made the catch flat-footed, though. The ball hit off the wall about nine feet up. Maybe Chuck Nevis could have made the catch flat footed. Anyone in baseball would have had to jump.
I made the comparison because the angle both Bae and Meadows were taking upon arriving at the ball were about the same. Bae is a younger, far more athletic OF so he cold leap much higher up. Meadows has limitations that wouldn’t allow him to make his own play, let alone the Bae play.