Coaches, what are some of your best plays or the best plays you have seen. I'm talking about situational plays to get an out and trick plays to get an out.
Also, if necessary discuss why it works and how to execute for success. I have seen a lot of coaches use plays that could have worked, but they didn't teach the proper execution.

If this thread has already happened than disregard.

I will start with a couple.

Situational play: Man on 1st & 2nd, less than two outs. Ball hit to infield, fielder throws to 2nd for the first out of a possible double play. SS or 2nd baseman(whoever is turning the play) recognizes
the 2nd out at first is improbable & immediatly without hesitation throws to thrd for the out. Often times the man that was on 2nd is rounding third hard as the play is developing and can't get back in time before the tag. It surprises me how often this works.

Trick play: Man on first leading off, pitcher on the rubber getting signals. Pitcher shakes off first signal, than 2nd, than third , than 4th. Catcher yells "what is the problem a**hole". Pitcher immediatly throws over for the pick on a distracted runner. I have never used this play, It really shouldn't work cuz runner shouldn't have full lead until pitcher comes set. But somehow it works.

I have a lot more and will share if you guys do.

Don't be afraid to share a play that you think we all know already. There are a lot of plays we have seen over and over that didn't work and sometimes look stupid. BUT, sometimes a coach knows a way to execute a stupid play and make it work.
For example, the absolutely dumbest play I have ever seen is the fake pick throw to 2nd base by pitcher where SS and 2nd dive for the pretend ball trying to get the guy on 2nd to go to third. I have executed this play and made it work, even when third base coach knows what is happening! It's such a stupid play I am embarrased to say I have used it, but I have, successfully.

I hope no one jumps in here throws down some bs about not using plays to get an out cuz "if you can't win a game with baseball fundementals than you don't deserve to win". If you are that guy stay away from the thread. I respect your opinion, but personally, If I desparatly need an out and can get my boys a W in a big game by taking advantage of a situation or a player/coaches lack of paying attention, by golly I will.

So you're that guy...

Not a 'trick' play by any means but I've seen one high school SS run HARD to second base after every pitch then circle back to his position. Sooner or later they catch a base runner that's napping.

As far as trick plays I don't waste much time with them anymore. I've tried running a few in the past and they usually backfired (and made us look silly).

There are some "trick plays" that can be found in a earlier topic called "classless coach". It is located in the coaches tips forum.

In the "classless coach" forum, the play discussed there is blatantly cheating. I'm talking about situational and trick plays within the rules.

They may be within the rules but that still doesn't make it classy by any means.

Why do you need "trick plays" if you have a talented team?

Trick Plays are for LL !!!

NO TR

Used at all levels. Seen them HS, college, and MLB.

IMO, there is nothing wrong with trick plays as long as they are "ethical". Of course, everyone can define ethical in their own way. For example, in the two situations mentioned in the original post, I don't think there is anything wrong with the first play and I wouldn't even call it a trick play (which I guess is why the poster referred to it as a "situational play"). The second play is out of line in my opinion.

I saw a play that I had never seen before in a local high school game a couple of months back that was interesting. It was late in the game, tied 1-1, the visitors had a runner on first with less than two outs. It was obvious the batter was going to bunt. The team in the field put on the following play:

While the pitcher was in the set position, the second baseman broke towards home as if to try and take away the bunt. Well, as soon as the second baseman cleared the line between the pitcher and first base (and theoretically just as the runner lost sight of the pitchers feet on the rubber) the pitcher wheeled and tried to pick off the runner at first. It didn't work, but I thought it was a great idea.

Yep,the second example is pushing it a bit, I doubt I would use it. But have seen it work.

I saw this yesterday, against my sons team. Very similar situation to what you saw. Man on 2nd, no one holding the runner. Infield yells "BUNT" corners coming in hard, SS cuts to 2nd for the pick, runner was out by a mile.

Man on 3rd and 1st, everyone in the dugout (batting team) yells squeeze- man breaks for 2nd making it easily - bush in my opininion and maybe illegal.

For the sake of the game, just play baseball!

Catch, that play would irritate me. No recruiting of the duggout to assist in any play for any reason. I would say bush on that one too

Here is a play. Runners on 1st and third, runner on first steals, catcher throws down, 2nd baseman crosses and cuts the throw and fires directly to third. There are several variations of this play and very situational.

btw.. Alot of the plays I know have been used against me over the years or I saw in a game watching, I write them down and the situation so I can look out for it or maybe use it some day. I don't put many in for my teams because its hard enough just teaching the basics. Heck, I pull my hair out getting the kids to execute cuttoff plays
properly. Just no time. But I do like the good plays and enjoy learning new ones.

Any others?

TD I like the play at third on the poss. dbl. play ball, a lot of coaches in our league are very aggressive on such a play and instruct their guys to take a big round of third to see if the ball gets thrown away. I don't much care for any play that is gonna disrespect the game such as the pickoff at 2nd you described in the first post.

We had that one used against our 10's by a team that was up 6-0, even though we had told the whole team about it beforehand cause we saw them do it earlier to a team they were going to mercy, nothing but bush IMO. I will not let my players disrespect the game or our organization.

quote:

Originally posted by TripleDad:
Here is a play. Runners on 1st and third, runner on first steals, catcher throws down, 2nd baseman crosses and cuts the throw and fires directly to third. There are several variations of this play and very situational.

That's not a "play." It's a very basic 1st and 3rd defense. You need to have a few of those.

It does get tougher and tougher to pull off trick plays as the players get older and better.

I will share two trick plays that I know. The first one I had never seen until my son joined his AAU team last summer. The second one I invented when my son played little league.

1.) Our team at bat. Men on 2nd & 3rd, less than 2 outs. It doesn't matter whether the pitcher is winding up or in the stretch. When the pitcher starts his motion the runner on 2nd breaks for 3rd. When the ball leaves the pitchers hand the runner on 3rd breaks for home. Suicide squeeze. The batter bunts the ball to the 3rd baseman. The 3rd baseman, seeing he has no shot at the runner going home, throws to 1st base. The runner on 2nd, because he left early, has rounded 3rd and when the 3rd baseman throws to 1st base, he continues home. Two runs on 1 sac bunt. We pulled this play off multiple times against very good teams. But it must work the first time you try it. A foul ball by the batter will give the defense time to adjust.

2.) This play was my answer to the standard little league play where a kid walks with a runner on 3rd and doesn't stop at 1st but keeps going to 2nd base. I had seen this play done at will and was determined to stop it. When I managed my 8 year old All-Star team I invented this play while driving to work.

So our team is in the field with a runner on 3rd and the batter is about to walk. I give a verbal signal to the infield that tells them what to do if the batter does walk. If the pitcher throws ball four, 3rd baseman and 2nd baseman sprint to the pitchers mound. They form a huddle and put their gloves together. They then sprint back to their positions as the runner gets to 1st base. They keep their hand in their glove and hide whether they have the ball or not.

The 3rd baseman runs straight at the runner on 3rd. The 2nd baseman runs between 1st and 2nd base and stands there waiting for the runner.

Believe it or not, the opportunity to do this play only came up once. We were a very good team so teams didn't try this play against us.

The one time we did it, the base coaches almost grabbed their runners to keep them on the base. The 1st base coach almost blocked the batters path because the kid was told to break for 2nd base. They had no idea where the ball was. When the runners were on the bases, the player with the ball asked for time from the umpire. It worked perfectly. The umpires had no idea where the ball was either. It was like the game suddenly froze.

I know this play seems silly, but this kind of deception is done all the time in football, which is where I got the idea from.

Last month, at a tournament, I ended up running into the player who had been the batter/runner when we did that play. I asked him about it and he remembered it completely, ten years later!

With a youth team why spend time working on "trick plays" when you can be working on basics ?


This is why players get to the HS level without knowing the fundamentals

Fundamentals are fine, but pulling off one of these situational plays can be a huge confidence booster, and worthwile to break practices up once in a while. You need to go over situations anyway, why not put a fun wrinkle or two in ?

The time isnt worth it in my book---we play "BASEBALL"

TR, even if you don't use them, it is good to be aware of them.

Just to be clear TR, I was refering to the "situational" plays like triple described throwing behind the lead runner or the many 1st & 3rd scenarios. Triple has a point that even if you don't use the play it doesn't hurt to be aware of them.