Hidden Ball Trick Pulled Off

[Velho]

Jomboy is the only place I've seen this and scouring the internet I can't find any other coverage in video or print.

Interesting one I hadn't seen or heard of before. F5 is holding the ball between his index finger and glove. He looks to have complete control of the ball throughout the action and was judged to meet the definition of a tag.

"A TAG is the action of a fielder in touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball, or with his hand or glove holding the ball (not including hanging laces alone), while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove. It is not a tag, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his touching a base or touching a runner, the fielder drops the ball. In establishing the validity of the tag, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball. If the fielder has made a tag and drops the ball while in the act of making a throw following the tag, the tag shall be adjudged to have been made."

My sleuthing did lead me to find it was in the fist inning of this game (I believe) https://www.milb.com/gameday/captains-vs-lugnuts/2023/07/05/722309#game_state=final,game_tab=play-by-play,game=722309 I don't have MiLB video access so can't pull video directly (maybe @johnnyg08 does?) so have to go with what little we can see from Jomboy.

 

 

 

[johnnyg08]

1 hour ago, Velho said:

Jomboy is the only place I've seen this and scouring the internet I can't find any other coverage in video or print.

Interesting one I hadn't seen or heard of before. F5 is holding the ball between his index finger and glove. He looks to have complete control of the ball throughout the action and was judged to meet the definition of a tag.

"A TAG is the action of a fielder in touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball, or with his hand or glove holding the ball (not including hanging laces alone), while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove. It is not a tag, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his touching a base or touching a runner, the fielder drops the ball. In establishing the validity of the tag, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball. If the fielder has made a tag and drops the ball while in the act of making a throw following the tag, the tag shall be adjudged to have been made."

My sleuthing did lead me to find it was in the fist inning of this game (I believe) https://www.milb.com/gameday/captains-vs-lugnuts/2023/07/05/722309#game_state=final,game_tab=play-by-play,game=722309 I don't have MiLB video access so can't pull video directly (maybe @johnnyg08 does?) so have to go with what little we can see from Jomboy.

 

 

 

On it. Stand by. Good find. 

[johnnyg08]

Here we go. 

And the R2 didn't leave early either. They rarely do.

 

[Velho]

32 minutes ago, johnnyg08 said:

Here we go.

Thank you. That's it (as you spot shadowed - you can see F5 with the ball held on backside of his glove). Too bad the announcers didn't recognize what actually happened.

[johnnyg08]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:07 PM, Velho said:

Thank you. That's it (as you spot shadowed - you can see F5 with the ball held on backside of his glove). Too bad the announcers didn't recognize what actually happened.

I'm usually pretty hard on the announcers...but in their defense, I don't think that there's any way that they see F5 with the ball in real time. 

From their perspective, the logical take is that it was a left early appeal. 

I think if they had the MLB staff to roll it back and take a look at what occurred, I bet they grab it then...but whomever found this initially, was really dialed in because there was literally no mention of it on the broadcast. 

 

[Velho]

38 minutes ago, johnnyg08 said:

I think if they had the MLB staff to roll it back and take a look at what occurred, I bet they grab it then...but whomever found this initially, was really dialed in because there was literally no mention of it on the broadcast. 

Fair (I wondered if they are even in stadium or doing it remotely).

Tomboy had different angles so no idea where they got that. A little surprised more outlets didn't pick up open it since it's a fun "Top Play" kind of thing.

[johnnyg08]

8 minutes ago, Velho said:

Fair (I wondered if they are even in stadium or doing it remotely).

Tomboy had different angles so no idea where they got that. A little surprised more outlets didn't pick up open it since it's a fun "Top Play" kind of thing.

I didn't watch subsequent innings. They may have rolled the tape back. A great look would be something overhead. 

 

[johnnyg08]

2 hours ago, Velho said:

Fair (I wondered if they are even in stadium or doing it remotely).

Tomboy had different angles so no idea where they got that. A little surprised more outlets didn't pick up open it since it's a fun "Top Play" kind of thing.

I don't know if there's a different feed somewhere, but I ended up watching the entire game and didn't see the clips that he has in his video. 

I'll keep looking, but we might have to read between the lines a bit...at least with my clip.