The fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move has been around major league baseball forever. But it’s poised for extinction in 2013 after the Playing Rules Committee approved a proposal, backed by MLB executives and umpires, to make it a balk. The players union vetoed the rule change, but it could be implemented after a one-year wait. It took 10 years to expand the playoffs. Change rarely happens quickly in baseball.
But the sport is focused on a move that’s biased against left-handed pitchers — a truly undeserving demographic — and doesn’t work very often, even if it is effective at keeping runners from stretching their leads.
Recommended Stories
Under the proposed change, a pitcher would have to step off the rubber before faking a throw to third or it would be a balk.
Thankfully, stolen bases aren’t very exciting. That play when Bryce Harper swiped home against the Philadelphia Phillies last weekend went almost unnoticed.
That likely will be the impact of eliminating the fake pickoff play, too. At least baseball isn’t changing something as obscure as instant replay.
– Craig Stouffer
