Ian Kinsler intentionally dropped a ball instead of catching it, and it was brilliant
Ian Kinsler made the smartest baseball play we've seen during the season's first two weeks, something so smart that it even confused the Detroit Tigers announcers.
“It’s not going to matter,” Tigers television analyst Rod Allen said. “He wanted (Colby) Rasmus off the basepaths ... that’s why he dropped that ball, but the umpires are not buying it.”
Because there was only one baserunner, the infield fly rule didn’t come into effect. Kinsler dropped the popup intentionally, keeping the ball in play so he could throw out the lead runner at second base. Rasmus had stayed put at first base because infielders don’t ever drop popups like that ... not unless they’re doing it intentionally. Since Rasmus was the faster runner, it helped Detroit to get him off the basepaths.
Kinsler has done this before with the Tigers, but it’s a rare play. It requires a shallow, easily playable fly ball, a situation on the basepaths where the lead runner is clearly more dangerous, and an incredibly quick-thinking player like Kinsler, who can read both of those situations and make it happen. Whatever the case, this was an incredibly smart play by him.
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