College pitcher pulls off sneakiest pick-off move you’ll ever see
Over the years, left-handed pitchers have frequently been described as “crafty.” Maybe that’s because guys like Jamie Moyer can pitch effectively at age-47, or because Mark Buehrle can turn in solid seasons with an 84 mph fastball.
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Lefties typically don’t throw as hard as right-handers, so they often have to add some deception to their game. That can come in the form of a tremendous off-speed pitch, or it might result in a killer pick-off move at first.
Rice pitcher Blake Fox just so happens to be a lefty, and he’s certainly living up to the “crafty” reputation. During the fifth inning of Sunday’s game against University of Louisiana Lafayette, Fox unleashed one of the sneakiest pick-off attempts we’ve ever seen.
Holy moly!
The whole thing seems incredibly casual. Fox steps on the rubber and readies himself to throw a pitch, but decides to need a minute to wipe his brow. At that point, he steps off the rubber, proceeds to pretend as if he’s wiping some sweat away and then suddenly fires the ball over the first base.
It’s sneaky, it’s devious and it’s ingenious. And we love everything about it.
Unfortunately, the attempt did not result in an out. Kudos to Fox for trying, though. It was well worth it just to see the above video.
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Though it didn’t work this time, we’re going to encourage Fox to work on this moving forward. Come up with other ways to confuse and baffle opponents on the mound. Test out a hidden ball trick, or maybe toss the ball over while attempting to clean off the pitching rubber.
Whatever it takes, basically. That’s the way of the lefty.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
