Prince Fielder – getting ready for his first season with the Texas Rangers – grounded into the year’s first wacky double play in yesterday’s Cactus League matchup against the Chicago White Sox.
With a runner on first, Prince smacked a grounder to the third baseman, who threw to the shortstop (covering second because of the shift) for the first out at the top of the diamond. As shortstop Avisail Garcia went to turn it, that’s when things got strange.
Garcia’s throw struck the hand off runner Josh Wilson and deflected high into the air, seemingly ruining the double play opportunity. But the deflection wound up falling out of the sky and right into the glove of Chicago’s first baseman, beating Fielder for the second out.
Fielder isn’t exactly Ricky Henderson on the basepaths so that probably helped. Either way, this was pretty cool to watch.
