Jason Ferguson sent a link to this story of attempted cheating in a UT-Missouri game this month. Check it out:
In the bottom of the sixth with UT leading 5-0, Peoples stood on third base with two outs. Chance Wheeless popped up along the third-base line near home plate, and Missouri catcher Trevor Coleman, his back to third, called for the ball.
So did Peoples, who was running toward home.
“I thought, ‘I’ll give it a shot,’” Peoples said. “I didn’t know it was that illegal.”
Coleman cleared out, believing an infielder was behind him. The ball dropped to the turf, and bounced foul. Home-plate umpire Ken Eldridge called Peoples for interference, and the inning ended. Coleman, after collecting his catcher’s mask, barked at Peoples.
“I couldn’t really understand him, but I’m sure he had a few choice words,” Peoples said.
This kind of verbal interference was entirely common in baseball’s early history (this is in the book), and it’s always nice to see some reach back for a classic. You never now – as we saw in that other “pop up” story, sometimes the umps don’t make the call and you get away with it.
6 comments ↓
I’ve enjoyed reading your site and hope to read your book soon too. One suggestion: you don’t have to constantly remind us what’s “in the book” every time you comment. We know you want to sell books, but I think it takes away from your message and makes you seem like a cheap salesman. Your comments are good enough that they alone will make us want to read (buy!) your book!
Hey. Well, obviously there’s a fine line here: I want to try and point out when I discuss these things where there’s more in the book you can learn about, without being obnoxious about it.
Or really, even annoying.
Sooooo… apologies if it’s annoying, and at least know it’s something I do think about, if I might error on the side of pushing the book a little, for equally obvious reasons.
Can you provide a rule citation for this? Looking at my National Baseball Congress rules (1995) and MLB’s rules (2007) on interference, there is nothing that, to my eyes, would warrant the call of interference by the umpire in this situation.
Ah — depends on the league, etc. I don’t know if it would have been called interference, and I don’t have a copy of the college rules. I meant here that he was disrupting the play.
I recall someone in the bigs being called for interference because as a baserunner he specifically chose to stand in a spot such that he screened an infielder from seeing an incoming throw.
If I’m remembering it right, the baserunner was insistent that there’s no such rule, and yet he was called.
I just got done reading the new issue of SI. And they talked about a team that ran the “Rainbow play”. my high school team also ran the play. I play 1st for alwood high school in illinois we resently pulled a major upset of a Rockrige team in a reganal semi-final game. we did it the same way but the first thing we did was clank bats together in the dug out it worked to prefection and turned the tide of the game. that was the best game in the history of my 143 kid high school.