Hanley Ramirez Embarrasses Shin-Soo Choo on Play at Second Base

Trickery is nothing new in the sport of baseball; players constantly try to gain a competitive advantage over their opponents. Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez took it to a different level on Thursday night, though, as he deked Cincinnati Reds outfielder Shin-Soo Choo at second base.

The play in question took place in the eighth inning of Thursday's contest with the Reds leading by a score of 4-1. Choo was at first base with All-Star first baseman Joey Votto at the plate. Votto hit a little flare over second base, which naturally prompted Choo to run.

Choo lost track of the ball, though, as it was clearly well over the infielders and in front of the center fielder for a base hit. Rather than standing idly by, Ramirez decided give Choo something to think about as he raised his glove and pretended to catch the ball.

As Ramirez did this, Choo slid into second base. He immediately got back up, however, and started running to first, as seen in this GIF courtesy of CBS Sports.

Andre Ethier then threw the ball back in to Ramirez, and by the time that happened, Choo was dead to rights and had come to realize his mistake. Ramirez slapped the tag on Choo, and the South Korea native proceeded to make the long and embarrassing walk back to the dugout.

That wasn't Choo's first curious play of the night, either. In the fourth inning, Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig made a wide turn on a routine single, so Choo attempted to throw behind him. Choo has a great arm, but his toss was way off, and it allowed Puig to advance to third base on an error.

Ultimately, Choo's boneheaded decisions didn't come back to bite the Reds, as they cooled off the smoking-hot Dodgers and won the game 5-2. In addition to the win, Choo learned a valuable lesson about never trusting the opponent.

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