Typically, when we think of the hidden-ball trick in baseball, it involves some shenanigans aimed at fooling the baserunner into an out.
And it absolutely doesn’t happen with no runners on base. Well, at least not usually.
During the weekend’s Chinese Professional Baseball League All-Star Game, former MLB pitcher Mitch Lively went into the second inning with some tricks up his sleeve. With nobody on in the inning, he attempted a hidden-ball trick aimed at fooling the batter.
The right-handed pitcher hid the baseball with his left index finger while exposing the empty glove and empty right hand to the batter. The trick didn’t really confuse the hitter, but the umpire had no idea what was happening.
The hitter, smiling the entire time, acted like he was going to call time but then knocked a base hit to left field. That hit wouldn’t stand, though, because the umpire apparently ruled that the windup was illegal and blew the play dead.
I don’t know — it looked fine to me. We need to see more of this trickeration in games that actually count.
Despite the botched hidden-ball attempt, Lively ended up being the winning pitcher.
(Thanks to Deadspin for sharing)
