In goal-based sports (e.g., American football and lacrosse), the offence deceives the defence about the location of the ball, in an attempt to get the defense running the wrong way, such as in a fumblerooski.
[citation needed] 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.
[1] 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 professional baseball, under Rule 6.02(a)(9), a balk occurs if the pitcher is standing on or astride of the pitching rubber without the ball.
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.
[13] On June 8, 2007, shortstop Julio Lugo of the Boston Red Sox caught Alberto Callaspo of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
[14] 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, 2005, when he, then with the Florida Marlins, caught the Arizona Diamondbacks Luis Terrero, with reliever Todd Jones on the mound.
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).
Longoria looked over his shoulder at umpire Angel Hernández, who called Uribe out for an 8-3-6-5 double play.
[15] 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,[16] tagged Carpenter after faking a throwback to pitcher Roy Oswalt following a pickoff attempt.
When the pitch came in, Bresnahan fired the white potato down the third-base line, enticing the runner to sprint home.
On November 9, 1895 John Heisman executed a hidden ball trick utilizing quarterback Reynolds Tichenor to get Auburn's only touchdown in a 6 to 9 loss to Vanderbilt.
During the play, the ball was snapped to a half-back who was able to slip it under the back of the quarterback's jersey and who in turn was able to trot in for the touchdown.