Ted Lilly Cheats
by ZBW on May 28, 2010 3:06 PM EDT
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PrintHow 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?
This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.
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What would be the correct action by the umpire if caught?
It’s not like doctoring a ball. Should it be a no pitch? A ball awarded? A balk with runners on base? Cheating seems like a strong label for something that umps should account for. Mayeb the answer is to have robots handle balls and strikes and humans monitor foot-to-rubber connections. Everyone wins.
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it is an illegal pitch
the pitcher is instructed to pitch from the rubber. If he fails to do subsequently so he is ejected
Foot not on pitching rubber
or even foot on pitching rubber but without the baseball are all balks. Blake should have gotten second.
Fuzz
by RZ on May 28, 2010 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions
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