Albert Pujols knows how to mess with a catcher - without taking him out

You may have missed it last night - even if you watched that game. It was the second time Albert Pujols went *flying around the base paths and it was the second time we all held our collective breathes when he did so.

But what did you miss? Pujols took his clear path to the base and avoided making contact with Robinson Chirinos. But his glove? Fair game!

Take a look at the clip below:

* in this case “flying” is approximately 22-23 feet per second

You can clearly see Pujols taking his tucked under leg and flinging it outward toward the ball and glove. Intentional? Not intentional? I tend to think it was on purpose. After all, Pujols has been playing a long time and he’s has a pretty high baseball IQ.

Or does he? The icing on the cake of this play was Pujols trying to be a helpful guy. You can see him briefly pick up the ball then drop it, realizing the ball was still in play.

So what do you think? Brilliantly placed leg kick on the slide or a lucky accident?

Whichever option you choose, it’s clear you can affect a play at home without sending the catcher to the hospital. *ahem*