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Originally posted by chuck chopper
OK, I'll retract my "blanket" statement. In baseball if a pitcher pretends to have the ball on the mound, its a balk.
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Who gives a damn about baseball, beside this is another statement that just isn't true. I believe in baseball it is nothing unless the pitcher is on, astride or near the pitcher's plate.
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If infielders pretend to have the ball & cause baserunners to slide, thats a no-no. So in some cases it seems we don't want deception, and in other cases we allow it.
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It is only a no-no if there is an attempted tag or act which would cause the runner to slide. If F6 feigns leaping for a ball other than in the vicinity of the runner or base and the runner chooses to slide into a base, it is nothing. This is a safety issue and has NOTHING to do with a runner being deceived.
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Weighing each case on its own, I do not believe the softball guru's would want us umps to call someone out on the LBR because they were deceived. However if a runner ran & was put out on a deception play, then it would be allowed.
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Think you can be a bit more contradictory? So, a change-up should be illegal? An infielder which lets a pop-up drop shouldn't be allowed to make a play on a runner? A fielder should be allowed to just stand near a base feigning no action when the ball is actually in the air on the way to that player should be disallowed? A runner should be called safe when the cut-off doesn't cut the ball even though someone screams "cut"?
These are all acts of deception and are perfectly legal plays.