The balk steal.

Segment 7 in "trick or treat" month.

This play is a staple of many high school baseball teams. It is predicated on deception.

Here is how it works. Men on 1st and 3rd and usually there are 2 outs. The man on 1st base breaks before the pitcher comes set and heads toward 2nd base. The runner usually needs to sprint to 2B to creat some urgency on the part of the pitcher who is caught by surprise. The play could work one of two ways after the runner at 1st base leaves prematurely.

a) The pitcher could balk when caught by surprise.

b) The runner at 3rd breaks and heads home when the pitcher gives the ball up to one the middle infielders.

The "balk steal" has some very important teaching concepts involved. Te runner at 1st must not let the pitcher come set. If the pitcher comes set he can deliver the ball to home plate and defeat the play altogether. The runner at 1st must also move to 2B with some speed. The pitcher must think that the runner is heading to 2B so he gives the ball to the infielder in a predictable manner. When the pitcher cocks his arm to throw to the infielder, the runner at 3B breaks to score.

The runner must cross home plate before the runner going to 2B is tagged out. Therefore, although the runner is running full speed to 2B, he must stop short of 2B and think retreat and rundown.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.