It's one of the oldest slogans in baseball: "Hitting the cover off of the ball."

On Friday night it actually happened.

Milwaukee Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado stepped up to the plate, connected with the ball and literally hit the cover off of it in his team's 5-3 victory.

Here is the poor ball that @Machete1224 knocked the cover off of earlier: #MILvsPITpic.twitter.com/YvpUoFavKo

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 19, 2014

Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez attempted to field the ball, but was visibly perplexed when it arrived in his glove. He tossed it across the diamond, but the ball fell apart in mid-air.

The play stunned the announcers.

"My goodness, just when you think you've seen it all!" one exclaimed. "You see a man literally knock the cover off the baseball."

Watch the Play:

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