I’m assuming there’s a factual answer to this question. That may be assuming too much.
It usually happens several times a game. Home team hitting, with a man on first; runner takes his lead, the opposing pitcher sets, wheels, throws to First, the runner almost invariably slides back in ahead of the ball, and the crowd boos. WTF? It’s a legit play, no one boos home-team pickoff moves, nor do they usually boo similar moves from a different position, such as a pitchout. Besides which, I sincerely doubt any manager or pitcher has ever decided not to attempt a pick off based on fan reaction. So, what’s the point of booing?
Just frustration with a slow pitcher, it is usually a pitcher that is pitching slowly with many throws over to first who get the boos. I have even heard the home team pitcher get booed for the same reasons if the fans aren’t too happy with him.
Example: Denny Neagle came over to the Yanks and in his 4th game he gave up an early Homer and was walking a lot of batters and kept pitching slower and slower and the opposing teams catcher was on first (not a base stealer) and he kept throwing over. Fans booed louder with each throw over.
It also means the hitter was set for the pitch and didn’t get it.
Some pick-off moves are attempts to rattle the hitter’s concentration.
I think that a lot of the boos come from the impression that the pitcher is unwilling to go up against the hitter.
I used to watch baseball with a friend who was a big fan of the game and we watched a pitcher try to pick off the runner at first no less than 10 times.
It always seems to me that fans are booing what they wrongly think is a balk by the pitcher. The boos especially seem to come during the fake to third and spin to first move that never fools anybody.
If I were a manager, I would strongly discourage my pitchers from paying too much attention to the guy on base. Just enough to keep him honest. In the long run, the goal is to put out the batter, and throwing over to first too much distracts the pitcher from that goal.
I agree with BubbaDog. The home team batter is not given a chance to hit after setting up. One can also hear boos when the home team slugger is walked intentionally. The opposing team is not giving him a chance to hit.
To tell you the truth, i think that the type of fans who boo pick-off moves are simply bad fans, people who aren’t interested in appreciating the game itself and are only interested in their team winning.
Now, i’m not arguing that people shouldn’t cheer for their team, or that everyone who watches baseball should be a paragon of unbiased objectivity. But the pick-off move is a perfectly legitimate part of the game of baseball, and that fact that fans almost exclusively boo opposing pitchers for doing it shows that they are not booing some more general concept like the slowing down of the game.
Sure, it’s legitimate, but it’s boring. That’s why I boo pitchers who keep trying to pick off a runner. (Actually, I don’t boo – I yell “Throw a fucking pitch, you girl!”) There’s a million interesting things that can happen on any given pitch. There’s like two interesting things that can happen on a pick-off throw, and 95% of the time neither of them happen. I go to the game to be entertained, so when players play in a less-than-entertaining way, I’m disappointed. I understand that it’s the player’s job to win games and that the entertainment they provide is incidental, but that’s not my headache. I feel equally frustrated when my team’s pitchers try it, but 1) it’s not cool to boo your team even if they deserve it, and 2) my home team pitchers don’t do it that often because they’ve got a strong defensive infield they can rely on to get the runners out once the ball is hit.
If you want to be a good pitcher, you must learn to “keep the runner close to the bag.” I.e., don’t let him get a big lead, especially if he’s fast on his feet. Otherwise, you’ll soon find that runner in scoring position. If you ignore this axiom, your ERA will soar and you’ll be out of a job.
Nevertheless, if that happens, you can be consoled by the fact that certain fans will have found your performance entertaining. And isn’t that what really counts in baseball — keeping foul-mouthed fans amused?
And use my hit the base runner tactic 30 or 40 times a season and the game will become much more interesting, and your opponents less inclined to steal.
I take pleasure in pointing out that I saw it fool someone once: Sammy Sosa.
Never one to take an intellectual approach to the game, he got skunked by the old fake to third, spin, throw to first.
#214 in a series of reasons that Chicagoans are glad he’s in Baltimore. xo, C.
