Maybe in a different sport — perhaps basketball — Robbie Tenerowicz’s move would’ve worked, such as a player asking, “Where’s the foul, ref?”
Maybe, but definitely not in minor-league baseball.
In the sixth inning of the Arkansas Travelers’ game against the Wichita Wind Surge on Saturday, Tenerowicz seemingly had nowhere to go after dribbling a routine groundball toward third base, though he didn’t exactly sprint out of the batter’s box like the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo.
Instead, he ran toward first baseman Yunior Severino, who received the throw from third, but before getting slapped with the tag, Tenerowicz paused.
Tenerowicz then stared at the first baseman and dragged the play out by retreating from first to home before attempting to draw a fake foul.
Tenerowicz replicated the motions of a jump shot when he neared home plate and jumped into the eventual tag, ending the frame in a game between the Travelers and Wind Surge — which are the Double-A affiliates of the Mariners and Twins, respectively.
It was perhaps his greatest impression of James Harden, Trae Young, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler or seemingly anyone who lives at the free-throw line in the modern NBA.
Not only that, but Tenerowicz seemed to ask the umpire for the foul — but of course, there are no free throws in baseball.
The video, posted by an account that tracks the Mariners’ minor-league teams, was viewed more than 43,000 times on Twitter.
The 28-year-old Tenerowicz was a 27th-round pick by the Rays and has been a minor league mainstay, and he even hit a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning against the Wind Surge on Thursday.
Heading into Sunday’s game, Tenerowicz had been hitting .307 with the Travelers in Double-A this season, his best-hitting season to date.
The Travelers subsequently won the game, 7-4, and won their fifth straight against the Wind Surge, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon to close the six-game series.
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