Like a professional wrestler hitting his opponent with brass knuckles behind the referee‘s back, the surest way to draw an angry reaction from baseball fans is to break out the old fake-to-third, throw-to-first pickoff move.

‘Rarely worked’

It really has served a purpose other than to annoy. But I guess that doesn’t change the fact the play rarely worked — you can count the successful attempts every season on one hand — and often killed the flow of a game. And that’s not to mention I’ve always felt the move fit the technical description of a balk since deception was involved.

It was with all of those factors in mind that Major League Baseball began a discussion to eliminate the “pickoff attempt” last spring. Now comes word from the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner that the change is official, and beginning this season any such attempt to fake a move toward third base will result in a balk.

‘Wasted time’

Under a rule change imposed by Major League Baseball for this season, pitchers can no longer fake a pickoff throw to third base. Pitchers who did this would almost always follow by wheeling and firing to first — or to second, if a duped runner had taken off in that direction. No more.

The play is now part of baseball’s graveyard, like the bullpen cart, the Montreal Expos, pullover jerseys and World Series games in the sunshine. It simply did not work often enough to be worth the wasted time.

It may not work enough to be worth the wasted time, but as former major leaguer Jeff Nelson alludes to in the same article, it definitely kept baserunners on their toes and will now work in their favor as they no longer have to worry about the embarrassment of being tricked by the move.

Are you in favor of banning the third-to-first fake pickoff in the MLB? Do you also find this move annoying or not?

Source: Mark Townsend, Yahoo Sports

Image: Deadspin