I always thought a balk was the failure of the pitcher to complete a throwing motion (toward the plate). Once the pitcher has started the windup, he cannot throw anywhere but to the catcher. Is that wrong?
The greatest example of this sort of nonsense was not in baseball, but football, when, soon after the turn of the century, the Brown team came out of the locker room for the second half with a football sewn to the side of every player’s jersey.
There was an emergency rules-change meeting the next day, of course.
John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams
BobT is sort of right. The pitcher can stand on the mound, but he can’t put his foot on the rubber, if memory serves me right. That’s one reason why you have to pull this from a time-out and the tag has to happen within a second of the umpire calling “play ball”. Our team was never burned by the hidden ball trick because we always followed two simple rules: If the umpire has not called “play ball” and you don’t see the pitcher with his foot on the rubber, STAY ON THE BAG!
The “balk” rules are very, very complicated - probably the most complex rules in baseball.
On a semi-related note, last night the Braves pulled the “Hidden Victory” trick!
This has to be the most mis-applied rule in all of sports. I have been an umpire for many years, and I see this get goofed up all the time. There’s the base PATH and and the base LINE. The Base LINE is a straight line from one base to the next. The runner does NOT have to stay within this line. The base PATH is an imaginary line set by the runner, and only when he is played upon does the base PATH become a straight line from where the runner is to the base he was running towards. When that happens the runner cannot run over three feet to either side of this imaginary line to avoid a tag. (about one arms length) If there is not a play being made on a player he could loop into the outfield while running from first to second with no penalty. If runners were forced to stay within the base LINE then you wouldn’t even be able to round bases. You’d have to make an immediate 90 degree left turn at every base.
Oh, and IIRC, the last time the ‘hidden spud’ trick was used, I thought the umpires ruled it in favor of the runner because the defensive team was making a travesty of the game.
Enright3
I’ve been hearing about the potato trick since I was a tadpole. It sounds like a UL to me. Anyone have any cites? I have trouble believing anything involving spuds has actually happened in the modern baseball era . . .
-andros-
Nickrz-- To answer your balk (which is pronounced Bak NOT ball-kah) question. A balk is when the pitcher makes a motion to first or home then throws to somewhere else (or doesn’t throw at all), this is usually judged by where his knees are going. he can fake to 2nd or 3rd without penalty. a balk is also when the pitcher steps off the mound when he has the ball. once the pitcher takes the mound, he MUST throw the ball. also he cannot take the mound without the ball. watch a few games and you’ll notice all these. in any case in a balk the batter gets a ball and the runners advance a base
I was walking down the street when something caught my eye… and dragged it 15 feet.–Emo Phillips
Someone said to me, “Make yourself a sandwich.” Well, if I could make myself a sandwich, I wouldn’t make myself a sandwich. I’d make myself a horny 18-year-old billionaire.
Here’s a link to the potato incident: www.crosscutters.com/history/potatocaper.htm
Thanks Mike. So the potato switch actually happened in a AA game in 1987.
Wow.
-andros-
“Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!” Exceptions? None!
-Doc Bronner
Thanks, Merper.
Everything Merper says sounds right to me except that I think he’s confusing “mound” and “rubber”.
Lay on the bad jokes, please.
Alan Wiggins of the orioles got tagged on the hidden ball trick back in 1986 by the Tigers. 1B Darrell Evans faked a throw back to the pitcher after a failed pickoff attempt and stuck the ball back into his glove. Wiggins took 2 steps off first base, and bingo.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now.
BobT: (my first attempt at quotes)
How sweet it was. Perez had been doing that smartass dance after every strikeout. I thought it was one of the best things I ever saw happen in a game. Take that, LA.
I remember Brett Butler as a Giant stole second, and the 2B or SS at the bag looked out to center like he missed the catcher’s throw. Bulter looked back and forth between the defenseman and center. As he took off for third, teh defenseman tagged him, caused Butler to look to the sky and laugh to himself.
I’d expand more on Perez and LA, but it’d have to be in the Pit.
JMcC, San Francisco
http://members.tripod.com/~weirdstuff/index.html
“Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they’re snoring”
There is a quicktime file of JT pulling the trick off on the Giants website, sfgiants.com. The best bit is Perez’s reaction - the Giants don’t rub it in at all, they don’t have to. Perez is just open-mouthed, knows what’s happened but can’t believe it has. The umpire has seen it the whole time.
An important aspect is the pitcher. A jittery, finnicky pitcher like Chris Brock is a good candidate because the batter and runner won’t think anything of him stepping off, smacking the rosin bag, etc. With a more methodical, economical pitcher like Randy Johnson, the runner might think something was up.
ben