The 3 ball walk

Segment 29 in "trick or treat"month.

The 3 ball walk preys on a catcher's instinct for justice to be served. A catcher with the ball in his hands becomes vulnerable when he turns his back to the field of play. This can be dictated by the concept of a 3 ball walk.

The idea is that when the batter receives his 3rd ball of the at bat he flips his bat and heads to 1B. The catcher knowing that it is actually only ball 3 turns to the home plate umpire to see if the batter is in fact correct. When the catcher turns to look at the umpire the base runner takes off towards the next base in hopes of advancing a base while play was still live.

Although any batter could initiate the play on his own, the baserunner must be aware of the play too. The last thing you would want would be for the runner to start walking away from the base only to have the catcher throw him out. The runner, knowing the play is on, waits for the catcher to turn his head and then sprints in the direction of the next base.

As long as time was not called, the runner may advance at his own risk. In this case, he advances while the catcher is preoccupied with the umpire.

I've seen this play work one time at the high school level.

It's very difficult to betray your instincts for immediate justice.