Saw this in a D1 college game recently:
Runner on first, one out. Soft line drive to shortstop. He moves to catch it, but intentionally drops it, steps on second base and throws over to first for the apparent double play.
I'm not sure what the exact call was, but the umpire said the runner was safe at second base. It could be that he said the ball was really caught, so the batter was out and there was no force at second. But it sure looked like a dropped ball to me - there was no control, it was not dropped on transition, etc.
My question: is there any rule covering this? Or will an umpire "manufacture" a call in order to prevent a cheap double play?
Seemed like a pretty heads up play by the shortstop, though. (He is good - was recently invited to the Team USA trials.)
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