If there is such a thing as a magic ball, Twins shortstop Brian Dozier hit one on Saturday afternoon. Dozier’s single in the bottom of the fifth drove in a run and gave the Twins a 3-0 lead. It wasn’t your average single, however. The hit was an infield single. In fact, it was hardly your average infield single. As you can see from the video above, Dozier hit a slow roller down the first base line that began about three feet in foul territory. Somehow, the ball made a miraculous turn and wound up fair by about a foot.
“Never seen one spin like that,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said according to the Star Tribune. “We got the ball. It will be in ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not,’ or the Guinness Book of World Records for farthest foul ball ever called fair.”
By the time the ball came back into fair territory, Royals catcher Brayan Pena did not have enough time to throw Dozier out as he was hustling down the line. Despite the fact that the ball clearly started in foul ground, Dozier said he saw the spin so he figured he might as well run just in case.
“When I saw it on the grass (along the first base line), and I saw the amount of spin on it, I was like, why not?” Dozier explained. “I’m dying for a hit, so let’s take off and see what happens.”
Of all the amazing plays we’ve featured here on the site, this one ranks toward the top in terms of most bizarre. Don’t be surprised if you never see something like that again.
