Ryan Freel Didn't Make the Catch

So, remember on Monday when Ryan Freel collided with Norris Hopper at full speed making a fantastic catch in the outfield? Well, turns out that it was faked. Not the collision. The catch. Norris Hopper finally came clean today in the Dayton Daily News:

With evidence mounting, Norris Hopper confessed that he put the baseball in Freel's glove after they collided and Freel was knocked out and taken to a hospital.

Freel stayed at Cincinnati Good Samaritan Hospital overnight and was released Tuesday afternoon. He has an appointment today to see head and spine specialist Dr. John Brannan.

[...]

OK, how about Hopper shoving the baseball into Freel's glove while Freel lay still on the grass?

"I didn't have to touch Freel," said Hopper. "The ball was right there, inches from his open glove, and I just had to roll it in quickly."

If you watch the video below, between the 15 and 20 second mark you can see Hopper get straight up, run towards Freel, and while he's checking him out it looks like he reaches his left hand out and does something that Freel's body obscures from the camera. Talk about a heads up play. As a Pirate fan, I know I should be mad about Hopper stealing a run from my favorite team, but I think the whole thing is kinda cool.

Thanks to Bucs Dugout for finding this one first.

Link: sevenload.com