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    An Ode To The Hidden Ball Trick

    Little league tricks should be more common in the big leagues.

    One of the rarest things you'll ever see on a baseball diamond isn't a grand slam, an unassisted triple-play or a perfect game. It's a juvenile trick designed to fool and absolutely humiliate your opponent. The hidden ball trick is a lost art, a gimmick rarely utilized beyond Little League. It's a play that's considered uncouth on the major league level, met nearly the same amount of scorn as corking your bat or doctoring the ball.

    However, to be frank, this stigma is bullshit. Baseball is a game where paying attention and being aware of situations are paramount. The hidden ball trick is not used because players simply don't wan to be embarrassed by being caught napping. The hidden ball trick should never work. However tell that to controversial manager, and easily fooled base-runner, Ozzie Guillen.

    Okay, fool me once, shame on me, but fool me twice, and "holy shit he got fool by the same hidden ball trick TWICE?!"

    There should be no shame in trying anything within the rules to record an out. Ozzie Guillen was the manager of two major league baseball teams and even lead one to a World Series title, he knows the importance of an out more than anyone. Baseball is a battle of wits, and if you lose that game within in the game you deserve ridicule and embarrassment.

    There's something very ironic about a man who is employed and paid millions to lead and direct others, who was twice the victim of arguably the most boneheaded base running error of all time.

    But hey, if it could happen to Griffey it could happen to anyone, right?

    Oh wait, that was a movie.