4 ms·

I couldn't find "shady" but this one is funny: https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/08/03/ty-cobbs-most-daring-baserunning-maneuver-defeated-the-yankees/ h

I couldn't find "shady" but this one is funny: https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/08/03/ty-cobbs-most-daring-baserunning-maneuver-defeated-the-yankees/ https://www.vintagedetroit.com/blog/2013/08/03/ty-cobbs-most... The home plate argument is so absorbing that after stealing third, Cobb can pretend to join the argument. They'd forgot to call time; he scored. "El Mago" Javier Báez would be this season's equivalent, with a gift for getting his opponents to forget how to play the game. He recently turned an easy out at first into a pointless rundown, so his teammate could steal home: https://youtu.be/-bVUWNj5XrU https://youtu.be/-bVUWNj5XrU

Loughla 5y ago
That Baez play is genuinely why I love baseball, occasionally. That's just so good, his teammates are so happy, and the other team is immediately flustered (as indicated by the massive errors immediately after). That type of thing reminds you that it's just a game.
aidenn0 5y ago
https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-24-1909-an-honest-slide-by-ty-cobb-or-malicious-intent/ https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-24-1909-an-honest-sli... My opinion is the balance of the evidence shows that Cobb played within the rules, but he certainly took advantage of his reputation of being dirty to make steals that other players might not have succeeded in. Gaylord Perry (clearly not the most neutral party) claimed the something similar about his Vaseline ball; he said that he got a lot of psychological advantage by pretending to doctor the ball by overtly reaching for odd places before the delivery. Perhaps I should revise my earlier comment to point out the long tradition of gamesmanship in baseball. If you get a (deserved or not) reputation for cheating, how legitimate is it to use that for gamesmanship? In baseball, doing so seems to be clearly part of the culture.
dbt00 5y ago
Javy is not the best player in baseball, but he is by far the greatest agent of chaos and the most fun to watch. He's been perfecting the head first swim slide, where he goes around the base leading with his left (inside) hand, then pulls it back and reaches across with his right while the defender swipes at an arm that's not there to try to tag him out. https://youtu.be/upXHTI98fTg https://youtu.be/upXHTI98fTg

Loughla 5y ago

That Baez play is genuinely why I love baseball, occasionally. That's just so good, his teammates are so happy, and the other team is immediately flustered (as indicated by the massive errors immediately after). That type of thing reminds you that it's just a game.

aidenn0 5y ago

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-24-1909-an-honest-slide-by-ty-cobb-or-malicious-intent/ https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/august-24-1909-an-honest-sli... My opinion is the balance of the evidence shows that Cobb played within the rules, but he certainly took advantage of his reputation of being dirty to make steals that other players might not have succeeded in. Gaylord Perry (clearly not the most neutral party) claimed the something similar about his Vaseline ball; he said that he got a lot of psychological advantage by pretending to doctor the ball by overtly reaching for odd places before the delivery. Perhaps I should revise my earlier comment to point out the long tradition of gamesmanship in baseball. If you get a (deserved or not) reputation for cheating, how legitimate is it to use that for gamesmanship? In baseball, doing so seems to be clearly part of the culture.

dbt00 5y ago

Javy is not the best player in baseball, but he is by far the greatest agent of chaos and the most fun to watch. He's been perfecting the head first swim slide, where he goes around the base leading with his left (inside) hand, then pulls it back and reaches across with his right while the defender swipes at an arm that's not there to try to tag him out. https://youtu.be/upXHTI98fTg https://youtu.be/upXHTI98fTg