Marlins pull the hidden ball trick...

[halter91]

Any one see this on ESPN? Fricking hillarious. They're 3rd base coach should be fined!! :laugh:

[herrmag]

You've got to be kidding me. It worked?! Holy S!

[Thiebear]

Without a picture this thread sucks..
tease...

[BlueTalon]

or a link.

[DjTj]

Posted on Thu, Aug. 11, 2005

MARLINS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 5

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/12354419.htm

Trick and treat

Mike Lowell, who went 2 for 4, performed the hidden-ball trick in the eighth inning, and Jason Vargas earned his third win as the Marlins remained two games back for the wild card.

BY CLARK SPENCER

cspencer@herald.com


Baseball's hidden-ball trick, when executed successfully, requires a good bit of acting. Which is why Marlins pitcher Todd Jones might demand an Academy Award for his supporting role in Wednesday's 10-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Mike Lowell, with the ball hidden inside the webbing of his glove, shocked the Diamondbacks' Luis Terrero by tagging him out at third when the baserunner thought the ball was in Jones' hands.

''It changed the whole inning, and ultimately it changed the game,'' Jones said after the wild victory at Dolphins Stadium that left the Marlins two games back for the wild card. ``It was the coolest thing I've done on the field in a long time. It was pretty awesome. The last time it worked for me was in 1986, my last year in high school.''

Here's what happened: The Marlins had allowed a 6-1 lead to melt to 6-5 when the Diamondbacks' Tony Clark singled to left, sending Terrero to third for the potential tying run.

Lowell took Miguel Cabrera's throw from left, but instead of tossing the ball to Jones, he kept the ball inside his glove when he noticed that neither Terrero nor Arizona third-base coach Carlos Tosca were paying attention.

''Both guys had their heads down,'' Lowell said.

Then came the difficult part.

For the ploy to work, rules require that the pitcher cannot step foot on the dirt portion of the mound.

Jones looked around for the throw. When it didn't come, he knew what was up and began to stall for time, circling the mound, playing with the rosin bag, conferring with catcher Matt Treanor and counting the agonizing seconds.

BUYING TIME

''I figured [Lowell] had it, and the fix was on,'' Jones said. ``You've got 10 or 15 seconds to try to sell it. I was running out of things to do. I was going to touch my toes and start doing jumping jacks if it had gone on much longer.''

Lowell waited and waited before spotting his chance to strike when Terrero took his lead off the bag. He reached over with his glove and tagged the unsuspecting runner.

''I've got nothing to lose,'' Lowell said. ``What's the worst that can happen? I throw it back to the mound.''

Few in the crowd of 20,443 saw the play coming. Neither did some of the Marlins, including center fielder Juan Pierre and second baseman Luis Castillo. They said it took them a few seconds, after Lowell, who went 2 for 4, applied the tag, to figure out what had just happened. One who detected immediately what was happening was third-base umpire Ed Rapuano.

''Ed Rapuano was on it,'' Jones said.

Said Lowell: ``I give credit to Ed Rapuano. He was on the play the whole way.''

The Diamondbacks were stunned.

''It was just the culmination of a poorly played game by us,'' Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.

It's not the first time that Lowell has used the hidden-ball trick to perfection. In fact, he was the last player in the majors to pull it off, employing the hidden-ball trick to tag out Montreal's Brian Schneider at third base in a game played last September.

It turned out to be the second out of the inning, and a huge one in the victory, the ''key to the game,'' in manager Jack McKeon's eyes.

Jones then struck out Craig Counsell to end the inning, and the Marlins put the game away in the eighth inning by scoring four runs off Arizona reliever Tim Worrell.

The win put the Marlins in position to complete a sweep over Arizona with a win in the series finale tonight. Rookie Jason Vargas started and worked five innings to get the win, improving his record to 3-0.

But it was a win that required some well-timed trickery to achieve.

AT EASE EARLY

Before then, the Marlins had opened a 6-1 lead, aided by Cabrera's 26th homer, only to have it nearly vanish when the Diamondbacks pelted Florida's bullpen for four seventh-inning runs. The meltdown came after Ron Villone, making his first appearance in a Marlins uniform at Dolphins Stadium, walked three consecutive batters.

In came Guillermo Mota, who gave up a bases-clearing double to Troy Glaus that would have fallen for a home run in most ballparks but landed in the center-field cutout before bouncing off the wall. Shawn Green's sacrifice fly made it 6-5, and Mota returned to the dugout to booing after striking out Conor Jackson to end the inning.

McKeon brought in Jones to start the eighth, and the closer ran into instant trouble when he gave up a leadoff bunt single to Terrero, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Clark singled to left, but the ball was hit so sharply that Terrero was held at third.

Lowell took Cabrera's throw, but kept the ball.

[Thiebear]

It's not the first time that Lowell has used the hidden-ball trick to perfection. In fact, he was the last player in the majors to pull it off, employing the hidden-ball trick to tag out Montreal's Brian Schneider at third base in a game played last September


Frickin Genius..... a man that pays attention to his surroundings...

[Monte51Coleman]

Originally posted by Thiebear


Frickin Genius..... a man that pays attention to his surroundings...

Now if could only hit.

[Ghost of Nibbs McPimpin]

I just saw Mr. 3000 and they did that. Here I was saying that no one falls for that anymore!

oops.

[Skinned]

i don't know why it's not tried more often. Baserunners are so used to the usual routine. The only thing I can think of though is that the baserunner is probably never supposed to leave the base until the pitcher is on the mound..?

[In Flames]

thats pretty funny!! hope they show it on sportscenter!!

[dfitzo53]

Awesome.