The Rays are one of the more forward-thinking teams in Major League Baseball, so they’ll take an advantage any way they can get it. The hidden ball trick may not be as reliable as defensive shifts, but, hey, Tampa Bay will try anything.
On Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, the Rays pulled a fast one on the Dodgers and utility infielder Juan Uribe. In the bottom of the fourth inning of a game L.A. would eventually go on to win 5-0, A.J. Ellis hit a sacrifice fly that scored Andre Ethier and sent Uribe to third.
However, after Uribe settled on the third base bag, he bent down to fiddle with his equipment, and the Rays took him — and everyone else on the Dodgers — by surprise. While Uribe was looking away, Rays first baseman James Loney tossed the ball to shortstop Yunel Escobar, who immediately got rid of it to third baseman Evan Longoria.
Uribe saw none of this, of course, and as soon as he stepped off the base Longoria tagged him for the out. Check out the video below to see the one time in baseball history that Angel Hernandez can be praised for his heads-up umpiring.
