Ryan Howard ripped a line drive to right field against the Mets. Typically that is an easy base hit. Except, Ryan Howard rips a lot of line drives to right field so the Mets were prepared and in the shift. Second baseman Wilmer Flores was positioned in right field and made a diving play to rob Howard of a hit. Bummer.
Wilmer Flores threw Ryan Howard out at first base while seated in right field
Howard was bummed by being robbed of a hit so he stopped running and started to head back to the dugout. The only problem is Howard wasn’t actually robbed of a base hit. In the process of making a diving catch, Flores dropped the ball. Seated in right field, Flores noticed Howard hadn’t finished running to the base and still managed to beat Howard to the bag despite a ball that dribbled to first.
Howard went from being bummed about missing out on a surefire hit to being embarrassingly thrown out at first by a player sitting in the outfield. He may have missed out on an easy single by giving up too soon, but at least he hit a three-run home run earlier in the game. No question about if he should keep running on that one.
The lesson here isn’t to run harder to first base. It’s to stop messing around with singles and hit more dingers.
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SB Nation presents: The trade that almost sent Wilmer Flores packing
