.jpg)
I forgot to post here that my blog moved. Months ago. Its new home is on my own website, at www.iainduguay.com/blog
Cheers.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Lena Blackburne's Baseball Rubbing Mud
Any professional baseball game, from the Major Leagues down to independent ball, will have a bit of the Delaware River present. More specifically, mud from somewhere along the Delaware River. Only Lena Blackburne and his descendants know the location and exact ingredients of the mud, but it’s been rubbed on baseballs since 1939.
Brand new baseballs are too shiny and glossy out of the packaging, thus Rule 3.01 (c): “The umpire shall inspect the baseballs and ensure that they are regulation baseballs and that they are properly rubbed so that the gloss is removed.” A properly rubbed ball makes it easier for the pitcher to grip, and some claim that it makes it harder for hitters to pick up the rotation of the ball.
Throughout the 1920’s and 30’s, balls were rubbed with a water and dirt combo from the field, tobacco juice, shoe polish or other like substances. These didn’t work all that well, but nothing changed until 1938, when umpire Harry Geisel complained about the sorry state of rubbing material for baseballs to Lena Blackburne, who was the third base coach for the Philadelphia Athletics at the time.
That offseason, Blackburne went home to Burlington County in New Jersey and dug up some mud from somewhere along the Delaware River (the exact location, to this day, is a closely guarded secret). The next spring he presented a can of “Lena Blackburne’s Baseball Rubbing Mud” to Geisel, and word spread rapidly through the League. By the 1950’s, all levels of professional baseball were rubbing baseballs with Blackburne’s unique mud. Imitators have come and gone, but no mixture, natural or artificial, comes close to comparing to the mud from the streams of the Delaware.
What started as a simple way to make a little money on the side for Blackburne turned into a full fledged industry, and his unique contribution to the game earned Backburne and his “Lena Blackburne’s Baseball Rubbing Mud” a mention in the Baseball Hall of Fame, as well as a place in the umpire room of every clubhouse in professional baseball.
Sources:
http://baseballrubbingmud.com/
Morris, Peter A Game of Inches: The Game on the Field
2009 Official Baseball Rules
Bonus:
Article on Baltimore Orioles' umpire assistant Ernie Tyler, who's been prepping baseballs for games since 1960:
http://www.pressboxonline.com/story.cfm?id=3844
Saturday, August 8, 2009
History of the hidden ball trick
It all depends on who you ask. It’s a bush league move on a player’s part that goes against every meaning of sportsmanship. Or, it’s a smart move to take advantage of an opponent’s wrong step or a lapse in judgment.
It’s been used from the diamonds of the Major Leagues, to high school games, to wiffleball contests on the sandlot. Oh, and at the Major League level it’s about as rare as a no-hitter. It’s the hidden ball trick. Since the inception of the National League in 1876, there have been 263 no-no’s thrown in baseball history. Only 232 times has the hidden ball trick been verified to work during a game
So what is the hidden ball trick? There are many variations of trying to trick a runner off base: faking a throw back to the pitcher, pretending to miss the cutoff throw, and various other ways that usually involve theatrics and trickery on the part of the fielder. A true hidden ball trick typically has the fielder hide the ball, often in his mitt, and attempt to convince the runner through his body language that the pitcher has the ball. Because of this, the pitcher has to be in on the trick too. When the runner takes his lead off of the base, the fielder tags the confused (and embarrassed) runner and shows the ball to the umpire, much to the delight and amusement of everyone (except the runner...and probably his manager…)
The hidden ball trick has been a part of the game since the beginning. As mentioned above, there have been very few successful attempts of the trick recorded, but it’s been attempted throughout baseball history. Bill Coughlin even pulled the trick in the first inning of Game 2 of the 1907 World Series against the Cubs’ Jimmy Slagle. It’s still the only instance of the hidden ball trick working in the World Series. Coughlin gets the crown as king of the trick, have reputedly pulled it seven times successfully. On the more dubious side, Ozzie Guillen and Jack Martin (info on him here) are the only players to have been caught napping on the basepaths three times in their careers. (Also of note, Orlando Cepeda and Fred “Boner” Merkle alone can claim to have both fallen for the trick and pulled it successfully on someone else.)
It became much harder to trick the runners when the modern balk rules were put in place. The pitcher now cannot go near the rubber without the ball:
The last time the trick worked? August 10, 2005. Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins pulled it successfully for the second time in less than a year, this time against the Diamondback’s Luis Terrero. Here’s the account from the game recap:
It’s been used from the diamonds of the Major Leagues, to high school games, to wiffleball contests on the sandlot. Oh, and at the Major League level it’s about as rare as a no-hitter. It’s the hidden ball trick. Since the inception of the National League in 1876, there have been 263 no-no’s thrown in baseball history. Only 232 times has the hidden ball trick been verified to work during a game
So what is the hidden ball trick? There are many variations of trying to trick a runner off base: faking a throw back to the pitcher, pretending to miss the cutoff throw, and various other ways that usually involve theatrics and trickery on the part of the fielder. A true hidden ball trick typically has the fielder hide the ball, often in his mitt, and attempt to convince the runner through his body language that the pitcher has the ball. Because of this, the pitcher has to be in on the trick too. When the runner takes his lead off of the base, the fielder tags the confused (and embarrassed) runner and shows the ball to the umpire, much to the delight and amusement of everyone (except the runner...and probably his manager…)
The hidden ball trick has been a part of the game since the beginning. As mentioned above, there have been very few successful attempts of the trick recorded, but it’s been attempted throughout baseball history. Bill Coughlin even pulled the trick in the first inning of Game 2 of the 1907 World Series against the Cubs’ Jimmy Slagle. It’s still the only instance of the hidden ball trick working in the World Series. Coughlin gets the crown as king of the trick, have reputedly pulled it seven times successfully. On the more dubious side, Ozzie Guillen and Jack Martin (info on him here) are the only players to have been caught napping on the basepaths three times in their careers. (Also of note, Orlando Cepeda and Fred “Boner” Merkle alone can claim to have both fallen for the trick and pulled it successfully on someone else.)
It became much harder to trick the runners when the modern balk rules were put in place. The pitcher now cannot go near the rubber without the ball:
“Rule 8.05: If there is a runner, or runners, it is a balk when - (i) the pitcher, without having the ball, stands on or astride the pitchers plate or while off the plate, he feigns a pitch.”This is mainly what makes the trick so rare; if a runner waits to lead off until the pitcher gets on the mound, the hidden ball trick is impossible. Thus, the trick is only feasible though both the craftiness and acting ability of the fielder and pitcher, and the laziness and inattentiveness of the runner.
The last time the trick worked? August 10, 2005. Mike Lowell of the Florida Marlins pulled it successfully for the second time in less than a year, this time against the Diamondback’s Luis Terrero. Here’s the account from the game recap:
"I looked to first to see if Tony Clark was going to advance, then I looked at third base," Lowell said. "Both guys had their heads down so I just held onto the ball to see what would happen."
Despite the absence of any signal from Lowell, (Todd) Jones -- who said he hadn't seen the play since 1986, when he was in high school - understood what his teammate was up to."When I didn't get the ball, I figured it out by the process of elimination," Jones said. "I just walked around and tried to stall. I was running out of things to do. I was going to touch my toes."
Just as Jones was getting ready to give up the charade, Terrero took his lead off third base. Lowell sauntered over and tagged the stunned baserunner, who was immediately called out by third base umpire Ed Rapuano, drawing a roar of approval from the crowd of 20,443.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)