Al Alburquerque kisses baseball, draws ire of Josh Reddick

Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque got only one out Sunday, but it was a huge out. He was so happy, he kissed the baseball before throwing it to first.

By Matt Snyder

Oct 7, 2012 at 5:20 pm ET • 1 min read

In the top of the ninth of Game 2 of the Tigers-Athletics ALDS series, A's slugger Yoenis Cespedes stepped to the plate with runners on first and third. The game was tied and there were two outs. Tigers manager Jim Leyland made a pitching change, bringing in Al Alburquerque.

Alburquerque would induce a comeback grounder. When he fielded it, he did something a bit odd. Observe in GIF form, via Guyism:

Yes, he kissed the baseball before throwing it to first base for the final out of the ninth inning. MLB Network showed several replays at different angles, and it was unmistakable. At least one member of the A's was not amused.

"I didn't appreciate it," Josh Reddick said to reporters (Jane Lee being one of them). "I think that's immature and not very professional."

Cespedes, on the other hand, doesn't sound too bothered by it. He told reporters it was "OK" and that he'd head back to Oakland, hit the ball hard and kiss his bat (via Susan Slusser).

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