How can a pitcher who throws no harder than a high schooler be successful in the majors? Well, if you're Ted Lilly, you cheat. And by cheat I mean stand 6 inches closer to the plate than you're allowed to. I first learned about this after reading an article by Rob Neyer on ESPN (http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/3760/lilly-cheats-twitter-notices) that spoke about a specific instance that occurred in yesterday's game between the Cubs and the Dodgers (Lilly and the Cubs won 1 - 0).
Basically, the camera zoomed in on Lilly's foot when he was going through his windup and showed that his foot wasn't even close to the rubber and a few minutes later in the inning Casey Blake caught on, but argued with the first base umpire to no avail. I decided to investigate further, and, thanks to MLB.TV, was able to capture some screenshots that show Lilly blantantly violating the rules:
Now Ted Lilly certainly isn't the first to do this (CJ Nitkowski called it a "trick of the trade" on his Twitter) and won't be the last, but what is your opinion about this tactic?
Poll
Ted Lilly is...
a cheater! He deserves to be reprimanded. (43 votes)
smart. If you're not cheating, you're not trying. (31 votes)
74 total votes
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