In the sports of
baseball and
softball, the hidden ball trick usually involves a
fielder using sleight of hand or misdirection to confuse a
baserunner as to the location of the ball, allowing the fielder to
tag out the runner unawares. Though several variations of the play exist, they usually involve a fielder keeping the ball without the runner's knowledge, waiting for the runner to step off a
base, and then quickly
tagging the runner out. For the trick to work, the fielder (generally an
infielder) must get the ball while the ball is still
in play, and the runner must either not know that the fielder has the ball or think that the play is over. Fielders usually try to fool the runner by miming a throw to the pitcher or another defender while keeping the baseball out of sight, often in his glove. If the runner is not paying attention and assumes that the closest fielder no longer has the ball, he may stray off the base and be tagged out. A related tactic is to quickly re-tag the runner after an unsuccessful tag in the hope that his hand or foot has lost contact with the base after a
slide but before time has been called. In most situations, the
balk rule precludes a
pitcher from performing a hidden ball trick. As play after a
foul ball,
hit batsman, or
time out, must not resume until the pitcher is on the
pitcher's mound, the
infielder cannot use these times to obtain the ball.
Examples While variations exist, the use of the play in major league baseball is somewhat rare. Some say that the hidden-ball trick has been pulled fewer than 300 times in over 100 years of major league baseball. The first known recorded and successful example of Coughlin's hidden ball trick was against the
Detroit Tigers on September 24, 1901, as seen from a contemporary description of the game:In returning the sphere to the infield the ball was thrown to our tricky third baseman and he promptly did a little sleight-o'-hand work, his hands moving faster than
coachers' eyes, and shoved the ball up under his arm and assumed his position as it there were nothing wrong.
Carrick was standing in the box as if he were about to toss the globule over, and
Cronin eased off the
ottoman slightly, but enough to get him caught, and he returned to the bench amidst the jeers and howls of the populace.He did it again on September 3, , catching
George Stone in the first inning. In Game 2 of the
1907 World Series, Coughlin caught
Jimmy Slagle with a hidden ball trick, the only one in World Series history. The play went from
Germany Schaefer to Coughlin. Former
second baseman Marty Barrett also successfully performed the trick more than once. This worked twice. Former third baseman
Mike Lowell also made the trick work twice, each time after a throw-in from the outfield. The key to Lowell's success was acting, placement, and waiting: acting as if nothing was on, standing away from the bag but not too far from it, and waiting, at least 10 seconds, until the runner on third took a few steps. On April 30, , in a game against the
Cleveland Indians, Kamm was involved in a rare
triple play involving a hidden-ball trick. The Indians had
baserunners on first and second bases when
Carl Lind grounded out to the
shortstop.
Johnny Hodapp, who had been on second base, tried to score but got caught in a
rundown between third and home.
Charlie Jamieson advanced to third. Kamm retrieved the ball and
tagged both runners, whereupon the umpire ruled Hodapp
out. Kamm then hid the ball under his arm and waited for Jamieson to step off the base. When he did so, Kamm tagged him out to complete the triple play. On June 8, ,
shortstop Julio Lugo of the
Boston Red Sox caught
Alberto Callaspo of the
Arizona Diamondbacks. However, third baseman Lowell, Lugo's teammate, claimed it was not a true hidden ball trick since the pitcher did most of the work "selling" the trick. Before Lugo caught Callaspo, Lowell laid claim to the last successful hidden ball trick and held that position for eight years to the day. Lowell's occurred on August 10, , when he, then with the
Florida Marlins, caught the
Arizona Diamondbacks Luis Terrero, with reliever
Todd Jones on the mound. Lowell also caught
Brian Schneider of the
Montreal Expos in . On July 12, 2013,
San Diego Padres shortstop
Everth Cabrera attempted to execute the hidden-ball trick on
San Francisco Giants third baseman
Pablo Sandoval after Sandoval hit a double. As pitcher
Sean O'Sullivan walked onto the mound and Sandoval took his lead, Cabrera, while holding the ball, tagged Sandoval. However, Sandoval had requested and was granted time by second base umpire
Laz Díaz immediately after his double. Because O'Sullivan never assumed his position on the pitcher's plate with the baseball, the umpires appropriately never called "Play" and Cabrera's tag of Sandoval was therefore not legal. The
Umpire Ejection Fantasy League explains this is why a hidden-ball trick may never be executed after a base hit, mound visit, or other events in which "time" is called: to put the ball back into play, the pitcher must engage the rubber and if the pitcher engages the rubber without the ball, it is a balk under Rule 8.05(i). On August 10, 2013, in a Tampa Bay loss to
the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5–0,
Evan Longoria,
Tampa Bay Rays's third baseman pulled the trick in the fourth inning on
Juan Uribe. With the bases loaded and no outs,
A.J. Ellis flew out to the center field, with
Andre Ethier tagging to score, Uribe tagging to third and
Skip Schumaker tagging to second. Tampa first baseman (and former Dodger)
James Loney cut off-center fielder
Wil Myers' throw at the mound, flipped to shortstop
Yunel Escobar, who flipped to third baseman Longoria standing several feet behind third base, out of Uribe's line of sight. Longoria just stood behind the bar looking bored and kicking the dirt for several seconds before he got his chance. "I was watching it, and I didn't know what to do to stop it", said pitcher
Zack Greinke, who was
on deck. "I didn't want to yell at Uribe, because I might get him off [the bag]. I didn't know what to do. He just lifted his foot for a tenth of a second and Longoria was ready for it. As Uribe shifted his weight and took his foot off the third-base bag, Longoria sneaked from behind and slapped Uribe's thigh with a tag. Longoria looked over his shoulder at umpire
Angel Hernández, who called Uribe out for an 8-3-6-5 double play. In an after-the-game stunt from his teammates, Uribe was presented with a baseball shoe taped to a base. On September 19, 2013,
Colorado Rockies first baseman
Todd Helton caught
Matt Carpenter of the
St. Louis Cardinals for the final out of the first inning in a day game at
Coors Field. Helton, who days earlier had announced his retirement after 17 seasons with the Rockies, tagged Carpenter after faking a throwback to pitcher
Roy Oswalt following a pickoff attempt. Carpenter was dusting his hands after a head-first slide when he stepped off the backside of the first base towards 1B umpire Bill Miller. Cardinal's first base coach
Chris Maloney was unable to help Carpenter before Helton got him with a poking tag. "I've been wanting to do that for 17 seasons. Now I can cross that off my bucket list", said the 40-year-old Helton, who at the time was the oldest active professional athlete in Denver. The Rockies went on to win 7-6 in a 15 inning game that was the second-longest in Coors Field history. In the minor leagues, on August 31, 1987, catcher Dave Bresnahan of the
Williamsport Bills pulled an unusual hidden ball trick against the
Reading Phillies in the
Eastern League. With a runner on third base, Bresnahan switched catcher's mitts and put on a glove in which he had secreted a peeled potato. When the pitch came in, Bresnahan fired the white potato down the third-base line, enticing the runner to sprint home. Bresnahan then tagged the runner with the baseball which he kept in his mitt. The umpire awarded the runner home plate for Bresnahan's deception. Bresnahan was subsequently released from the Bills for the incident, but the fans of the Bills loved the play and the team eventually retired Bresnahan's number. ==Goal-based sports==