20 SMARTEST Moments in MLB History!

This is a smart moment, but there's even smarter moments in the MLB. Like recording 4 outs in one inning or doing something that I have never seen before, because this video is full of the smartest baseball moments. Just like the time Anthony Rizzo intentionally ran into this ball to stop the shortstop from turning a double play. Rizzo's out because he got hit by a batted ball, but the inning continues on because it was just one out instead of two. Talk about a smart play. And it kind of reminds me of this pitcher from the Brewers who did one of the smartest things a pitcher can do. The pitcher noticed the runner trying to steal home, so instead of throwing to the catcher for the chance to get him out, he chose to just hit the batter with the pitch so the play would be called dead. But we can't forget about the time when this player created a base running loophole that started to take over the MLB. Because on a normal forced play at second, the runner from first typically slides in and takes this out. However, since it's faster to run through the bag instead of sliding to it, the Cardinals tried just that when they had two outs with runners on first and third. So instead of sliding in normally, this player ran through the bag towards third base, causing him to be safe. And even though he will most likely get tagged out afterwards, the runner from third who would have not scored if there was a forced out at second, now gets the score since the runner gets tagged after the run comes in. This play is kind of dangerous though, so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it got banned sometime this season. But something else that is banworthy is when Charlie Blackman intentionally opened up a throwing lane for the shortstop, but came back in at the last second to block the ball. Even though Charlie knew exactly what he was doing since he couldn't technically see the ball, the umpires deemed that this move was unintentional, therefore making Charlie safe. I mean you gotta give him respect for it. Just like how you gotta give respect to when Matt Holiday not catching this foul ball actually saved his team the game. The score was tied 3-3 in the 12th inning and there was a runner on third base. If he caught this ball, the runner would have easily tagged up and scored. But since he let this ball go foul, the team had another chance getting this batter out without the runner scoring. And what makes this even crazier is that it's not even the smartest play in this video because the moments just keep getting smarter as we go on. Just like the time that this college team completely stole a run because of their super smart base running. Because just a few years ago, Kentucky pulled out this super smart base running strategy when they had runners on first and third and the pitcher was a lefty. Since the pitcher can't see the runner at third once he gets set, this makes stealing home for the runner at third much easier. However, on a normal steal of home, the entire infield typically screams something like, runner, alerting the pitcher that the runner is stealing and he will normally get the out at the plate. But in this case with Kentucky, both the runner at first and third take off at the same time, meaning that when the infield screams to alert the pitcher, he just thinks it's the runner trying to steal second base. But on top of that, the runner at first intentionally trips and falls on his face, which confuses everyone apart from the runner who just stole home and earned an easy run for his team. And by the time the pitcher knew what was happening, he was so confused that the guy who literally fell on his face was able to get up and steal second base anyways. If there was anything that you can learn from that clip, it's that while base running, absolutely anything could happen. Just like in this next clip where Javier Baez fake said he caught the ball to keep the runner from going to third base, when in reality the ball ended up in center field. Some fans thought he should be charged with interference on this play, but Baez was smart enough to know that not touching the runner with his glove gives him the green light to do whatever he wants. Anyways, we now gotta talk about the time where Freddie Freeman somehow found a way to get 4 outs in a single inning. Because after completing what was thought to be the third out of the inning, Freddie randomly chucked the ball over to third base to try and tag the runner out, and it was a good thing that he did. Because after review, this third out at first got called safe. Freddie had a feeling that this was gonna happen, so he just threw the ball over to third to get the fourth out of the inning, ending the inning regardless of the call at first. Honestly, just a super smart play. But somehow that still wasn't even close to this next play, because Kyle Tucker literally got himself out on purpose and had actually earned his team a run. You see, the Astros had runners on second and third with nobody out, and after Carlos Correa lifted a fly ball to right, the runner on third easily tagged up and scored. Simple sack fly, right? Well, not exactly. Because if you look closely, the runner on third left third base early, and the D-backs seemed to catch onto it immediately. So all they had to do was throw the ball back to third base and step on the bag, and that run comes right off the board. However, when the D-backs went to do this, Kyle Tucker attempted a steal of home, forcing the defense to try and go tag him out. This may have looked stupid, but him getting tagged out actually makes their initial appeal invalid. So even though he got tagged out in the base pass, they got to keep their initial run on the board. But now, how about a time that a manager was being smart for his team? Because back in 2021, the Brewers found a loophole in the MLB rules that actually gave them more time to appeal a play. You see, the White Sox had the bases loaded and nobody out when this player hit a chopper to the pitcher. He tried to get the runner at home, but the throw hit the umpire, making everyone safe. However, if we take a closer look, you can see that the umpire was looking at the ball that came and hit him instead of the runner, who actually never touched home plate. Now normally, a team only has around 20 seconds to appeal a play like this before the next play needs to happen, but the way that the Brewers got around this rule is genius. The Brewers pitching coach came out for a mound visit, which gave the Brewers extra time to see if the runner actually touched home plate or not. Now, they obviously saw that he never touched the plate, so Corbin Burns stepped off the mound and threw the ball to the catcher, and they appealed the call at home. Everyone was kinda confused at first, but Council talked to the umpires, saying that he thinks the runner missed home plate. He obviously knew that he did, but the umpires wanted to go check it out, and by no surprise at all, the call actually got reversed. Tony LaRusso was pissed because he knew exactly what Craig Council did in order to buy more time for this appeal. However, since Council did the appeal before any other play happened in the game, even with the mound visit in between, there was really nothing that Tony could do here. Now, a lot of people would say that Craig Council is one of the smartest coaches of all time, and honestly, I might have to agree with that, because even after he went to the Cubs, he was still pulling out moves like this. You see, the Cubs were down 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. And since first base was open, they just decided to intentionally walk Jesus Sanchez, which creates a force out at any bag. He also hit a bomb earlier in the game, so it was honestly the smart thing to do. However, once he started walking down to first base, something strange happened. The Marlins for some reason wanted a pinch run for him, which honestly makes no sense and probably confused him, because he started walking back to the dugout without ever touching first base. You could tell Craig Council saw this all happen, so he came out to the umpires and said, hey, he did not touch first base. They then told him that he had to appeal that, so he was like, yo, appeal at first base, and Belly was like, what? What are we doing? And he was like, yeah, appeal at first base. Anyways, eventually he threw the ball over to first base, appealed that the runner did not touch the bag, and got one of the easiest outs of all time. The umpires did have to talk through it all with each other and clarify everything, because this play has literally never happened before. However, they eventually did call him out, the Cubs were happy, and Jesus still had no idea what just happened. Now, speaking of baseball IQ, Anthony Rizzo has always been one of those guys who could turn the dumbest looking play into something weirdly brilliant. Because on what looked like a routine ground ball, Rizzo ran out and completely baited the shortstop, making him just eat the ball, which let everyone reach safely. Rizzo was always thinking outside the box on plays, especially on defense when he was playing first base. Because after this player tried bunting the runner over to second base, Rizzo intentionally dropped the ball right in front of him, so he could run over and touch first base before the batter, and then try to go tag out the other runner for the double play. Now, even though Rizzo was a genius player, this center fielder saw a runner getting a little too comfortable at first base and decided to take matters into his own hands. Because after this player hit a pop fly to center field, he acted like he completely lost the ball in the air, selling it so hard that the runner drifted off the bag just a little bit. But the whole thing was just a setup where the center fielder made the catch, fired back to first, and turned a double play from center field. Now, turning a double play from the outfield is crazy, but Craig Kimbrell is even crazier. Because the Phillies were up 4-1 in the top of the 9th inning when they noticed Josh Bell trying to look into the pitcher's glove. He was doing this to try and figure out which pitch grip Kimbrell had in his hand, so he could then relay this and tell the batter which pitch was coming. However, before anything bad happened, Kimbrell made the smart decision to simply drop the ball when he was set, intentionally blocking the runner over to third base. Because even though it's handing them a free bag, that run really doesn't matter, and now Kimbrell doesn't have to worry about him at second base and can throw whatever he wants. Honestly, just a super smart play. But now, let's look at a time when the runner actually did get into a player's head. Because after Jaron Duran hit a chopper to the pitcher, the pitcher overthrew the first baseman, allowing a run to come in and putting Duran all the way on third base. However, if you look closely while rounding first, Duran completely missed the bag, and the White Sox seemed to catch on to this immediately. So, on the very next play, the pitcher was gonna step off and appeal at first, but Duran was already two steps ahead. Because as soon as they did this, Duran took off for home to confuse the first baseman, and it actually worked. The first baseman completely missed the ball, letting it soar all the way over his head, and Duran completely ruined the White Sox's chances at appealing the play at all. But honestly, none of these moments even come close to this last play, because it's such a smart play that I've honestly never even seen before. You see, back in 2023, the Tigers and the Orioles were in a tie game in the 4th inning when Michael Lorenzen walked Cedric Mullins. He happily took his free bag, because Mullins is a guy who likes to steal bases, and Lorenzen knows this. So before he even threw a pitch, he tried picking him off at first base, and right after, he quickly stepped off the mound again to change the call on his pitch comm. However, it was so quick that nobody except Cedric Mullins realized that this was actually his second disengagement. Under the new MLB rules in 2023, pitchers are only allowed to pick off a runner 3 times, and if the third attempt fails, the runner gets a free bag. Mullins knew this, so when the pitcher got set, he acted like he was gonna steal second base and quickly ran back to first before getting tagged. He outsmarted everyone and was automatically awarded second base. And if that's not one of the smartest things you've ever seen in baseball, then I'm not sure what is. And if you want to see more sports moments like this, make sure to hit that subscribe button down below and check out this recommended video next.