Skunk in the Outfield

1,562 Views | 14 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by PatAg
AirplaneAg09
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AG
It's been a long time since I've read an article on ESPN, but this caught my attention and I thought it was pretty interesting. I'd be curious to hear what posters who're certainly more baseball diehards than I am think of the play as well. My initial reaction was "bush league" but not sure if that's just ignorance.

Anyone got any good high school baseball trick play stories?

Skunk in the Outfield
Prosperdick
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AG
I remember reading a book on Pete Rose years ago and I seem to recall a trick play he and his brother pulled off when they were kids involving a potato that was roughly the size of a baseball (you can easily deduce how the trick worked). I think it ended with the other team chasing them home (I'm sure the author took some liberties there).
mhayden
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Definitely bush league and probably not really even able to pulled off except at the specific level they were at, not just because of it being between "fun" and "professional" as the author said, but I'd venture to say that 90%+ of little league umpires would not have known the rules 100% and would have ended the play prematurely.
bigjag19
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AG
Little League doesn't allow lead offs correct?
The Milkman
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AG
free_mhayden said:

Definitely bush league and probably not really even able to pulled off except at the specific level they were at, not just because of it being between "fun" and "professional" as the author said, but I'd venture to say that 90%+ of little league umpires would not have known the rules 100% and would have ended the play prematurely.


As a LL umpire I assure you the majority know the definition of the base path rule very well.

Coaches, players, and parents however do not typically
The Milkman
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bigjag19 said:

Little League doesn't allow lead offs correct?


Correct
titanmaster_race
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Bush league
PatAg
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titanmaster_race said:

Bush league
This isn't a major league game, much less the level of "bush league". If it had worked, it would have been genius.

Are you against all trick plays, in all sports?
mhayden
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The Milkman said:

free_mhayden said:

Definitely bush league and probably not really even able to pulled off except at the specific level they were at, not just because of it being between "fun" and "professional" as the author said, but I'd venture to say that 90%+ of little league umpires would not have known the rules 100% and would have ended the play prematurely.


As a LL umpire I assure you the majority know the definition of the base path rule very well.

Coaches, players, and parents however do not typically

I'll back down a bit from 90% or even the majority -- but I imagine there is a LOT of little league umpires that understand the base path but do not know that it is established when a tag is attempted to be made simply because it is very rare a player runs out of the basepath unless a tag is attempted to be made so that situation almost never occurs.

There's umpires at the highest professional levels that have to be corrected on the rules -- it's not hard for me to picture a lot of little league umpires calling the runner out of the baseline the moment a tag was even attempted.
mhayden
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It's bush league because you are using an obscure part of the rulebook in attempt to trick little kids.

Congratulations?
DannyDuberstein
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AG
coconutED
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If it were at a lower level where the objective is to learn the game, then I would say that such a play is inappropriate. At high school, though, I would say that that's the perfect time to introduce these sorts of plays, if for no other reason than to expose the players to these types of "unscripted" situations that require a high degree of heads up play.

Furthermore, according to the article, 1) the play didn't work, and 2) It pissed off the other team who then went on to rally, came back, and win the game. Bush league or not, it backfired in this case.
coconutED
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friscodick said:

I remember reading a book on Pete Rose years ago and I seem to recall a trick play he and his brother pulled off when they were kids involving a potato that was roughly the size of a baseball (you can easily deduce how the trick worked). I think it ended with the other team chasing them home (I'm sure the author took some liberties there).


An AA backup catcher tried to pull this during a late season game in the 80's. Dave Bresnahan
Birddog
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AG
They just did a segment before the LLWS MLB Sunday nite game. Very interesting, fun times.
ABATTBQ87
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I'm a hs umpire and I coach 18u summer baseball; I run this play every summer because the boys enjoy it and we always score on the play
PatAg
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free_mhayden said:

It's bush league because you are using an obscure part of the rulebook in attempt to trick little kids.

Congratulations?
I thought this was a high school level game, if I misunderstood and it was little league than I agree with you.

also as a reference point, this situation and trick plays in other sports, the coach will generally give the Ump/Ref a heads up that it is coming or to be ready to call the play correctly.

I remember seeing a high school team do the "move the ball to the other hash" where the center just hands the ball back to the qb and he stands up and is saying "lets move it to the other hash" and basically fools the other team into letting their guard down.
Or in soccer, I saw a team do a similar thing, where on a corner kick one player just slightly rolls the ball and the next player just starts dribbling and says "we're gonna kick it from the other side"
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