Okay, the baseball threads that are up have me wondering about two “tricks” we used to do in my limited amount of little league/rec league. (Hey, I’m a football lover, leave me be…)
Scenario One - Player A takes a walk. The ball goes back to the pitcher who is not happy for walking Player A. Player A in his trot to first base speeds up and runs to second before pitcher even realizes what’s going on. Legal in MLB?
Scenario Two - The ol’ hide the ball in the glove act. Player A is on first. First baseman goes out to the mound to have a chat with the pitcher. First baseman returns to the bag with the ball concealed in the mitt. Player A takes a lead, first baseman tags him out. Legal in MLB?
The hidden ball trick isn’t pulled off often, but it is legal. When I was a little kid back in New York, I saw their shortstop, Gene Michael, pull it off twice (according to one source, Michael did it 5 times in his career).
Of course. Runners can run anytime they like as long as the play isn’t dead, which in this case, it is not.
Ahhh. Many will say yes. In fact, assuming the pitcher is set on the pitcher’s mound when the first baseman tags the guy (which sounds like what you are saying) the play as you have described it is NOT legal; it is a balk, and all baserunners advance one free base. See Rule 8.05(i).
For this reason, NO major league baserunner will leave his base until the pitcher steps on the rubber. Watch them; you’ll see they step away from the base once the pitcher sets, because at that point you’re safe from the hidden ball trick. Boneheaded baserunners have been fooled in the past, but it’s awfully rare and you have to be daydreaming to let it happen, since you should never, ever, ever, EVER lead off unless the pitcher is set. Ballplayers are taught that from Little League on up.
All I would add is that you are unlikely ever to see a batter take second on a walk, even the pitcher tosses a wild pitch. In Major League ball that is. It’s just not done.
However, the hidden ball trick usually happens once a year. J.T. Snow pulled it on Carlos Perez of the Dodgers a couple of years ago. Perez, an incredibly dopey pitcher, was celebrating reaching first on a single and Snow nailed him.
Speaking for most Dodger fans, few tears were shed for Carlos.
I’ve seen swift first sackers pull off the ol’ hidden ball trick, quite recently, in fact. I forget who was involved, but it took place on an attempted pick-off. The runner dives back hands first. The first baseman fakes throwing back to the mound. The lazy (and rather stupid an unobservant) baserunner takes his hands off first and starts to stand. BAM! First baseman whacks him in the head with his glove, which, naturally, still has the ball.
One dimwitted runner actually had this happen to him twice in one season, if I recall.
So, Little Leaguers, remember, never break contact with the base. Put your knee or your foot on the bag while you still have your hand touching it. Then you can stand up. Or at least call time first, bozo.
I’ve only seen it done (in the majors) once, by Mike Schmidt, IIRC. He drew a walk, jogged down to first, rounded the bag and just kept jogging. He didn’t start sprinting for second until he was halfway there, by which time of course it was too late to stop him. The ruling was: Stolen base.
I’ll share a hidden ball story I once read somewhere (can’t remember where):
Runner slides into second and is too busy dusting himself off and congratulating himself on a double to realize the shortstop still has the ball. To keep him distracted the shortstop starts up a conversation with the runner
“What are ya’ doin after the game?”
“Oh, I’m getting a nice big steak with onions”
Shortstop keeps up the conversation: “Yeah, you like those pearl onions?”
“Nah, big ones, big as baseballs.”
By this point, the two of them have wandered away from the bag a little bit. So the shortstop turns to the runner, opens his glove and says “You mean like this?”
I remember Quercus’s story as well. Took place in the seventies or before, if memory holds.
In addition to a player falling for a hidden ball trick twice in one season, I believe that a single team either had it happen to them twice in the same month (or 30 day period), or pulled it on two different teams within that period. I have a recollection that the California Angels were the team in question. I believe this happened in the mid 80s or 90s.
Incidentally, one semi related rules question I heard is a situation where the runner breaks from third, and the batter swings at the pitcher’s offering and either puts the ball in play or fouls it off. The third base coach then complains that the pitchers was not standing on the rubber when he delivered the pitch, and therefore the pitch was illegal. The home plate umpire confers with his colleagues and determines that the pitcher was indeed not standing on the rubber. What’s the correct call?
Answer: Of all things, the umpire must call the runner out. The protest backfired on the third base coach because the “pitch” was an attempt to throw the runner out at home, and the batter illegally interfered with the play at the plate. The runner is out because the batter interfered.
IIRC, any “hidden ball” tricks must be okay’d by the umpire at the base. The fielder must inform the ump that he’s planning on tagging out the runner without the runner hearing/knowing.
I don’t think you have to tell the umpire ahead of time, but it’s good to give him a heads up or else he’ll miss it too.
In football, coaches will tip off officials to certain trick plays they might run, so they won’t be penalized because the officials weren’t ready for it.
I have a similar recollection to Montfort’s, but mine is that notification used to be required in MLB but presently is not, or alternately that the this requirement was in force for some other level of baseball–college or the little leagues, but not MLB. In other words, I’ve heard of such a requirement, but am pretty sure it’s not a going concern in the majors.
Re BobT’s point in football: This is specifically true of “tackle eligible” pass plays.
I believe that tackle eligible plays (or any time somebody numbered 50-79 or 90-99 lines up as an eligible receiver) explicitly require notification of the officiating crew: “Number 76 will be lining up as an eligible receiver on this play.” The officials must then notify the defense. Ya can’t sneak Jumbo Elliott in as a tight end without the defense knowing it…
There are (I guess) other wacko trick plays that, while they don’t require formal notification of the officials, might find it beneficial - just to let them follow the play.
You might remember a spate of movies about little kids in MLB a few years back…in one (“Rookie of the Year”, I believe) kid pitcher is on the mound when his magic arm reverts to normal, and needs to get out of the inning. So he walks a batter, then gets him out with the Hidden Ball Trick. No balk was called.
Then he walks the next batter, and entices him to steal by dropping the ball on the mound, and calling him chicken. Another balk (8.05k)that seems to have gotten by the umpires.
tsk, tsk. Filmmakers with no regard for the subtleties of the National Pastime.
jsc1953, there are even bigger travesties than that among baseball movies!
The worst whopper is one told to me by a friend (I haven’t seen the movie, so I apologize in advance if I get any facts wrong, though I believe the gist is pretty accurate):
The movie is The Scout, starring Brendan Fraser. The climax of the movie stars Fraser’s character pitching a perfect game, with an obscene amount of strikeouts (maybe 27 strikeouts, which would mean he struck EVERYONE out).
The last batter is “power hitter” Ozzie Smith, who was allegedly among the best hitters in baseball that year. (Blatantly ignoring the fact that, in his major league career, Ozzie hit 28 homers, never more than six in one year. Geez, you might as well reincarnate Babe Ruth and have him lead the league in stolen bases with 150…)
Even more insulting to the intelligence of the average…no, let’s make that “above imbecilic”, baseball fan, is that the last out in a nine inning perfect game would be…the ninth place hitter. Not even Tony La Russa would bat his best hitter ninth!
Re: the hidden ball trick. I have seen on several occasions at the high school level and at least once in the majors, a pick-off attempt at first where the first baseman fakes missing the throw entirely and starts after the phantom overthrow. When the runner bites and takes off for second, he is promptly tagged out or run down.
Runners caught by that one look bad. Real bad. Big fines in Kangaroo Court bad. Because you are NOT supposed to leave the bag until a) you see the ball rolling away or b) the first base coach sees the ball and starts screaming for you to go.
I remember trying this version of the hidden ball trick a couple of times in Little League. The ball is retained by someone other than the person covering the base. The obvious advantage is that the baseman can “show” the runner he does not have the ball and the runner will not be looking for a throw from another player.
