Looks like the “fake to third, throw to first” move in MLB is soon to be a balk.
Joe Torre, now an executive vice president in the commissioner’s office, said there was plenty of support to change the rule, as is being reported by multiple sources. “A large majority of the managers, I mean really a good amount, wanted to eliminate it,” he said. “So we presented it.
Why, to save 1 minute to speed up the game? I know it rarely works, but at times it does and can be a useful weapon to allow pitcher to use full leg kick with runners on first and third and not have to compromise stuff to the plate by slide stepping. It also also eliminates move to third for many pitchers as runner at first can immediately go when he sees the pitcher going over there with no concern of being picked off.
Jack “Black Jack” McDowell was the best I ever saw at executing it. Even when our coaches would warn our runners about his move before the game I still saw him pick guys off with it.
When it comes to rule changes I, and apparently the majority of active players who did vote against the change in their MLBPA meetings, am more of a traditionalist, and generally prefer to leave as is the game as it is played on the filed.
It will be interesting to see if this change has any affect on the game positive or negative.
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