March 15, 2007
The 270
Via Dodger Thoughts, there's a new trick play in baseball:
Born in the imagination of a minor-league pitching coach, carried from Class A to the brink of the big leagues by an over-achieving, side-arming right-hander, "The 3-2" is a pick-off move that is challenging umpires at least as much as it is eliminating baserunners.
Footage of the move, captured accidentally Friday night by a Venezuelan film crew stationed behind home plate at Surprise Stadium, has been carried on compact disc from Arizona to the Major League Baseball offices in New York City. Duplicates will go out to umpiring supervisors and trickle into the minor leagues.
The pickoff play begins with the bases loaded or runners at second and third. The pitcher fakes the throw to third, then allows that momentum to carry him - 270 degrees counter-clockwise - into a throw to second base. It works best with the bases loaded, when it comes disguised as the more familiar third-to-first pickoff.
I can't find a link to the video on Google or YouTube, so if someone finds it let me know.
Posted by David Pinto at
04:49 PM
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Defense
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Oh, I so want to see this.
Seems like to be effective that you'd really have to spin that 270 pretty fast, which would also seem like you'd throw it into left or right center pretty frequently.
yeah - i don't think they should try this in detroit. hehe