High School baseball trick pickoff play
If you’ve seen any amount of high school or “travel” baseball, you’ve seen this play a dozen times. Why it still works is beyond me. With two outs and the bases loaded, the Delano High School (California) pitcher faked a pick-off throw to second. Without fundamental coaching by the third base coach, the overly-aggressive baserunner on third thinks he can walk home, but…I think you can take it from here…
Note: An opposing pitcher tried to pull this off against my team when I was 14 or 15 years old. We had an important run on second base. Same thing, the pitcher and fielders acted like the pitcher threw it into center field. Their reactions were priceless as my teammate stood on second base shaking his head.
Category: Baseball, Recent National
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The Troy Braves never got caught by this play.
That is an illegal move. Should be called a balk.
Show me the rule, David. It isn’t a balk.
It’s a balk if the fake throw is made to first only. Second or third is okay – thus the runners on the corners, fake to third, flip to see if the runner on first got faked.
You can’t balk to second base if it’s occupied, period.
We ran that play over 20 years ago. Nice to see it still works.
Gonna be a balk, next year, in MLB. Don’t know about high school.
I might be mistaken, but I think that MLB is just looking to make the “fake pick-off to third” move a balk, not the “fake to second and have all of your fielders run around like morons” move.
Goergs is correct. Fake to third, throw to first will be a balk next year in MLB. The inside move to second has never been a balk.
the next time around I would expect the team to intentionally steal hiome and go in spikes first…I promise you my baseball team would have done it.
If I was catching and you came in spikes first you would end up eating the baseball. The catcher, who is fairly well protected from spikes, had enough time to set up and tag high.
The play only works if the pictute never toes the rubber if he does it’s a big old bal>> Oh it also work when the umpires are half asssssssss jerks pretending to know the game>> Any one who calls balk on this one knows the game.(good call)
The runners should all move up one base and play on>> BK
This is 100% correct. this play wouldn’t have been a balk if the pitcher never touched the rubber. terrible umpire.
The pitcher is allowed to fake a throw to second even if he is on the rubber. The only base he cannot fake to is 1st.
I have told my players not to trust the umpire to make the right call.
If the pictures pulls that stunt just stand in the box and hit the ball when the pitcher throughs home.
If the cather steps in the way try to bunt it but get a piece of the ball. The picture is not allowed to fool the hitter and I cant tell if he is off or on the rubber sorry >>
*pitcher, *throws, *catcher, *pitcher, *can’t
The pitcher is clearly off the runner when he throws home. The batter cannot interfere in the play.
Is this not a balk? He did not step off but step in front of the runner thus having to actually make a throw. Also, the rule book states no fake tags or deception shall be permitted????
Nope, it isn’t a balk. You can spin and fake to second as often as you want (with a runner occupying second base) without throwing the ball. You just cannot fake to first and soon you will not be able to fake to third.
There is no such rule disallowing “fake tags”.
This Delano High School Delano, CA not Minnesota! The Delano coach is name Coach Gentry!
This. It’s Delano High School (Delano, CA) vs Ceaser E. Chavez High School (Delano, CA).
Where is Coach Gentry from? I had my teams in Bakersfield use this play several times, especially during the Babe Ruth playoffs. If Gentry is from Bakersfield, my team may have used it against him when he was a player! Just sayin. Crackerjacklack.
There is a rule about a pitcher not being allowed anywhere on the “mound” area during a hidden-ball trick play. In this case, he is hiding the ball and, since he stepped off the rubber, technically he is an “infielder,” just as any pitcher must “become” in a hidden ball trick. The balk should be called and the run allowed. This play is only legal if that pitcher had stepped onto the grass area off the “mound”–but you can be sure the umpires, nor the coach who “taught” the play, do not know the rule about hidden-ball “trick” plays.
This is not a case of the hidden ball trick. Besides the pitcher can be on the mound during a hidden ball trick, he just cannot be on or astride the rubber (see MLB rule 8.05(i). The pitcher was not on the rubber during the play. No balk.