Remember those times in Little League where you knew you could probably catch a ball standing up but dove anyway to make it look “cool”? Even if you didn’t have to, it felt incredibly satisfying to pull off at the moment in front of all your friends, right?
We’ve all been there! You know, trying to be cool.
As the Athletics took on the White Sox (-1.5) on Sunday afternoon, that’s precisely what A’s outfielder Tony Kemp seemed to want to accomplish. (Kemp, of course, is no stranger to the incredible catch.)
After Chicago’s Eloy JimĂ©nez launched a soft shot to left field, Kemp took off to make the play and dove at the last moment. And really, as replays showed — he probably could’ve simply jogged through the catch on a routine fly-out:
Tony Kemp went airborne. đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/gynb78i9hN
— MLB (@MLB) July 31, 2022
I mean, come on! Kemp literally has the ball in his glove and only then fully extends and flips as if that whole routine was necessary to finish the play. Well, at least he got the out, and it still looked … kind of cool?