Todd Frazier fools umpire with rubber ball

Todd Frazier made an amazing catch on Monday night, or so we thought. He actually fooled the umpires with a rubber ball.

Todd Frazier has struggled to stay on the field in his first season with the New York Mets. He’s played just 93 games this year but when on the field he’s been relatively productive for New York this season.

On Monday night the Mets took on the Dodgers in Los Angeles. During the game he made an insane catch going into the crowd. It was looking like Derek Jeter circa 2004.

The play has now been deemed controversial. Apparently, Frazier never caught the ball that was put in play. He faked out all the umpires in the process of one of the biggest charades in recent memory.

Steve Gelbs, who works for SNY, the channel the Mets play on, explained how Todd, in fact, did not come up with the baseball. When he went flying into the crowd he rolled over one of those rubber balls they use for t-ball.

Obviously, you see Frazier in the dugout after the inning and he’s recapping what happened. Ethically, is that the right move from Todd Fraizer? Probably not, but when you have a chance for a competitive advantage it’s certainly appealing.

That’s the debate that always comes up when steroids come into play. If everyone is doing it and or you need a competitive advantage is it worth risking it?

For Frazier, it was worth it because he didn’t get caught. One of the rough things about the digital age is now everyone is going to see this go viral on twitter and facebook. 15 years ago, nobody would’ve ever known if they faked it.

The news cycle died quick. Nobody was analyzing plays like this from two days prior and there were no tweets to look through to find something outlandish that was said. I guess that’s the pros and cons of the era we’re in now.

Umpires are going to take a much closer look when Todd Frazier touches the baseball, especially when he goes into the trick. A hidden ball trick for the ages.