Quote:
Originally posted by GarthB
Quote:
Originally posted by DG
I understood your point the first time. I try to remember it next time I call a balk after a dead ball. And I don't think I would be ashamed that I did not know he had the ball. That is the point of the "trick".
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No. The point of the trick is to fool an inattentive player, not an inattentive umpire. Umpires always know the status of the ball.
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If the pitcher and 3b man have a meeting with intent to pull the hidden ball trick, I have no way of knowing who has the ball when they separate. So if the pitcher toes the rubber, I don't think it is bad umpiring to call "play". Inattention has nothing to do with it. Now, as you have pointed out, if I call a balk when it is discovered that he does not have the ball, and therefore the ball could not be live, this call would be correctable, IMO.