Unwritten by Danny Knobler

Author:Danny Knobler [Knobler, Danny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641251907
Publisher: Triumph Books
Published: 2019-02-15T05:00:01+00:00

30. Deception Is (Sometimes) Part of the Game

THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH THE HIDDEN ball trick, unless you’re the one that gets caught by it. Even then, it’s your fault for not paying attention.

It’s not against the rules. It’s not against the unwritten rules.

Some forms of deception are. There’s an entire section on balks, which in many cases are basically attempts by the pitcher to deceive a baserunner.

“The purpose of the balk rule is to prevent the pitcher from deliberately deceiving the baserunner.” It says so right there in the rules. It’s under Rule 6.02(a) Comment (Rule 8.05 ­Comment). It couldn’t be clearer.

You can’t deceive the baserunner. Except when you can. The balk rule applies to pitchers, and it applies to the way the pitcher delivers the ball to the plate or throws to a base. It doesn’t apply to what Blue Jays shortstop Ryan Goins did to Yankees baserunner Todd Frazier in September 2017 at Rogers Centre.

Frazier was on second base when Jacoby Ellsbury flied out to right field for the second out of the third inning. Jays right fielder Jose Bautista threw the ball in to Goins, who was standing right next to Frazier at second base. With Frazier looking the other way, Goins faked throwing the ball back to the pitcher. When Frazier stepped off the base, Goins tagged him and the inning was over.

Frazier didn’t complain. He understood it wasn’t Goins who had done anything wrong. It was him.

“It’s a bonehead play by me, to be honest with you,” the very honest Frazier told reporters. “I have to have a better mindset about what is going on in the game. It’s not a good play on my part. It could have changed the game.”

Not everyone who gets caught by a deke is so understanding. Former major-league second baseman Marty Barrett was a master at it, earning him the nickname “Dekemaster,” but rival Doug DeCinces reportedly accused him of “Little League bullshit” after Barrett caught DeCinces asleep off second base in a 1985 game in Boston. The most surprising (and embarrassing) part about that play was it was the second time in a month Barrett had pulled the same trick on the Angels.

“I’m surprised [it worked], because [Angels manager] Gene Mauch is a real good baseball man,” Barrett said. “[But] it could happen to our team, it could happen to me. As long as guys keep getting off base, it’s going to work.”

Matt Williams loved the hidden-ball trick when he played third base for the Giants, Indians, and Diamondbacks. In one game in 1994, Williams pulled it on Dodgers rookie Rafael Bournigal after Bournigal had reached third on a triple. ­Bournigal even admitted what happened after Williams pretended to give the ball to pitcher Dave Burba.

“He asked me to step off the bag so he could clean it,” ­Bournigal told reporters. “You have no friends in this business.”

There are other ways to deke runners that also work.

Take the play where a runner from first base is going on the pitch.

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