Mets' Todd Frazier admits using rubber ball to fool umpire over catch

[turbinetree]

Third baseman used ball he found in stands to claim catch
‘Sometimes you’ve got to act out a little bit’

After an awful first-half of the season, the New York Mets have had a respectable few months, topped off by a series win at the Los Angeles Dodgers this week. Although it turns out of those wins may have been helped along by underhand methods.

During the Mets’ Monday win over the Dodgers, Todd Frazier took a spectacular catch, diving into the stands to snag a foul ball and keeping hold of it despite tumbling over the barrier. However, the ball Frazier emerged with wasn’t the ball that had been hit by the Dodgers’ Alex Verdugo – it was a rubber ball that he had grabbed after losing hold of the original one.

Some Dodgers fans noticed the deception and tried to get the third base umpire’s attention, so Frazier decided it was time to escape the scene of the crime.

“I was trying to get out of there as quick as possible,” Frazier said on Wednesday. “I saw someone pointing at the right ball and I was like, ‘All right, I’m just going to have to play this off.’ I got in the dugout and was telling people I was flabbergasted that I even got away with it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/06/new-york-mets-todd-frazier-rubber-ball-catch-umpire-la-dodgers

[Renew Deal]

1. 10 game suspension

Seems reasonable to me.

[Lochloosa]

4. A raise sounds reasonable to me....

[True Dough]

2. I saw that clip

and it looked like he'd made the catch as he went into the stands, but then he must have dropped the ball and switched it for the rubber one. It is deceitful, but I think he deserves credit for the great initial catch.

[MiniMe]

3. It wasn't a catch, he dropped it

[True Dough]

5. This clip shows it from different angles

I'm not sure when he drops it, but he has possession of it in his glove (even if only a snow-cone) as he goes over the wall. I say he done good.

[exboyfil]

6. Since he brought a foreign ball

into the game, a suspension is in order.