Wander Franco smashed unwritten rules while being cool as hell

Who needs a bat flip when you can BALL FLIP?

You know if old-school baseball fans are getting irate then something awesome happened, and Wander Franco delivered on Wednesday night.

Let’s start with the first video, because that’s what everyone is talking about. At the top of the seventh inning Franco casually scooped up a ground ball, threw it in the air to himself, and fired it into first to record the final out. Was it showboating? Absolutely. Was it cool as hell? Positively.

There’s not a lot of glory when it comes to foul balls. Outfielders get all the cool moments. They might climb the wall to rob a home run, make a sprinting dive that makes the SportsCenter Top 10, or fire in a cannon of a throw from the warning track. Infielders normally don’t have the time to flaunt, but Franco did — because he’s that good.

Now, this absolutely warrants reprisal, should the opposing team want to try. A throw hight and inside is a perfectly reasonable response, so long as you don’t try and hit the guy. One problem here if you’re the Pirates: Franco came back the next inning and homered at his next at-bat.

Franco is having a hell of a season for the 25-6 Rays. He’s batting .305 this season, has 20 RBIs, and is a huge reason Tampa Bay is on a roll. Let him flex.