Smartest Plays in Baseball History

The description box should read: Use code BASEBALLDOESNT50 to get 50% OFF your first Factor box plus 20% off your next month at bit.ly/3XH2Q1d!
Like and Subscribe
Podcast: beacons.ai/baseballisdeadpod
Twitter: @Baseballdoesnt
Instagram: @baseballdoesntexist
Tik Tok: @bbldoesntexist
Email: [e-mail]
Edited By: Aidan.

[@PickleDillGaming]

Plays like these make me wish that baseball existed

[@BryceZehn6]

@majorandmagic5853it’s a joke buddy

[@UpperCumberlandGamers]

​@majorandmagic5853Baseball Doesn't Exist

[@chucklebutt4470]

we can dream

[@vttheary]

@majorandmagic5853 r/woooosh

[@AsherWright-fi7ib]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@adamplace1414]

The 50-ft lead in the outfield was WILD. Somebody was thinking late into the night and cackling madly over that plan.

[@JMacSD]

Yeah it looks like it could work again, wonder if anybody has tried it since.

[@KMcNally117]

That's something you dream about and wake up with the thought of, Wait would that actually work?

[@xxdrippinbaby2089]

"Mwahahaha" - that coach

[@RoyaltonDrummer922]

Someone else literally made the exact same comment

[@WalkoffGrandslam]

i can see most umpires just calling the runner on 1st out not knowing or caring about the rule phrased like that.

[@Astrology.microdoses]

“If he tries to pick off the runner in right field” is such a wild statement had me laughing out loud

[@David-zn1un]

Just the old 1-9 pickoff play 😂

[@alexw0310]

I heard a story in Ken Burns' Baseball about the 19th century player King Kelly. In those days, to enter a game off the bench, you would announce yourself. In one game, a popup came towards Kelly's dugout, and he stepped onto the field, said, "Kelly now catching for Boston," and caught the ball, and the batter was called out.

[@ThePdog3k]

Oh shit I forgot about King Kelly

[@The_Noticer_of_Things]

@@ThePdog3k He is going to be super pissed at you.

[@lowandoutside]

Yup! The substitution rule was amended afterwards to specify that, yes, substitutions cannot be made while the ball is in play!

[@registereduser]

@@lowandoutsidethat’s great. “Show me where it says I can’t do that. You can’t!”

[@TheHopperUK]

This caused me to look up King Kelly and according to his wikipedia picture, he was not only smart, he was a total smokeshow, my goodness

[@mitchelvalentino1569]

Regarding the Johnny Bench play, when Ty Cobb was player-manager of the Tigers, he ordered a similar play on Babe Ruth. Cobb was managing from centerfield and yelled to the pitcher to intentionally walk Ruth. The pitcher gave Cobb a slight look of disagreement. The catcher yelled to the pitcher to just follow orders and walk Ruth. The catcher stood for the intentional walk, but at the last second the pitcher threw a strike one fastball. Expecting a ball, the Babe didn’t swing. Cobb yelled again from the outfield, pretending to be angry, ordering an intentional walk. The catcher appeared irritated and berated the pitcher for trying to lose the game by letting Ruth hit. But the next pitch was another strike. Ruth expected a ball. Then Cobb ran to the mound and pretended to chew out the pitcher, threatening to not only take him out of the game, but bench him and fine him for disobeying. Some of the infielders came in to calm things down. The frustrated pitcher finally agreed to walk Ruth. Knowing Cobb’s style as a manager, Ruth and the Yankees bought it. The theatrics paid off and the next pitch was strike three.

[@conedx]

stories like this are why ty cobb is my favorite non-reds player of all time. the dude was a THINKER. always scheming to get ahead. fighting and scraping and doing anything he possibly could.

[@phishphan49]

this is why baseball has become unquestionably my favorite pro sport as i've got older. Half of the game is played in the clubhouse. There's so many games there's no downside to giving unconventional ideas a shot, cheating is just part of the game to where the game is less safe and enjoyable without it (foegin substances), fighting is expected and pitchers are *expected* to throw at batters at time which in literally any other context would be felonious assault. Also you can celebrate as much as you want and give balls to the crowd without a fine. baseball is awesome

[@vBarnacle]

The Tigers need Ty Cobb more than ever rn

[@Lil_Loadin]

@@phishphan49lol baseball doesn’t have fights. sure you have your odor and amir garrett etc moments but majority of “fights” are just a bunch of overweight men running at each other to do absolutely nothing but stand there and babble some bullshit while they wait for the bullpen to finish their pointless run in

[@Lil_Loadin]

@@phishphan49baseball is still awesome tho

[@mrcooliojones165]

the kentucky play was actually genius

[@bmo14lax]

They must have some badass coaches

[@22bk113]

The play is very old ran against us in 2010.. in Cali

[@bmo14lax]

@@22bk113 ok he was showing clips from the '70s- '80s in this video so...

[@BallparkFranks7]

That one’s been around a while though. We did it in High School over 20 years ago, and I’m sure it was around before that in some capacity. We had a set of 5 first and third plays and this was always the most fun one. Everyone just assumed the runner screwed up when he fell over. Easy run.

[@kylerey09]

My coach taught us to yell the base, not runner.

[@BigDaddyPrettyBoy]

Me whenever baseball doesn’t exist posts 🎉

[@IsaacGroff12]

Fr

[@blackreign673]

me too and i dont really even like baseball

[@BobbySacamano]

You turn into confetti?

[@ChaseStone-ht2sc]

It does I went to one game

[@Arassar]

Capps jumping two feet off the rubber to pitch is still wild to me.

[@joemichigan4945]

That double jump delivery was so cursed

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

The way he held it behind his back during his throwing motion would have made his delivery weird to me by itself, too.

[@jclembo8461]

Is his original pitch still legal? The video made it sound like only his double hop pitch is illegal. I wonder why more pitchers aren't doing the original one if so?

[@pinkdink1210]

it definitely makes my knee hurt 😂

[@Win7ermu7e]

@@jclembo8461 No, it's called a crow-hop and it's definitely illegal. In softball as well.

[@momentous7417]

That last pitch was a damn ball 😆 the ump didn’t want to ruin the “smartest” play of all time and just went with the catcher’s reaction

[@neurodivergentdad]

Plus - Tony Peña did it better

[@craigquesnell7292]

☝100%, wasn't even all that close a pitch, not deserving of 'best' for sure, kind of an anticlimactic finish to an otherwise very entertaining video👍

[@TyrannoJoris_Rex]

I still think Freddie Freeman's 4th out, Kyle Tucker's appeal breaker, and Jason Varitek running for the fielder instead of the base were all smarter MLB plays than the A's fake intentional-walk-to-set-up-the-double-play. Edit: Even the 1st-and-3rd with Kentucky's runner-falling-down distraction and the high school runner leading off in shallow right were better

[@barleymepodcast2301]

I think it happening in the World Series, where the stakes are the highest, put it over the top for Mr. BDE

[@JJCanucks]

The Kyle Tucker play is the smartest play imo

[@Gravy_Jones22]

4th out never made sense and it happened to the Mets a few years later too where the call on the field was out so the Mets runner stopped. If you call someone out on the field for the 3rd out, that should always be a dead ball. If you need to send Duda back to 2nd so be it but you can't mess up a call and not leave the ability to make it right.

[@mrstrosdahl04]

@@Gravy_Jones22 My first thought. You would think the up wouldn't call him out at 3rd because the play was completed at 1st. It was smart but it shouldn't have worked.

[@fxsnyc]

@@Gravy_Jones22 agreed. I was thinking the same thing. Ump called runner out for 3rd out. At worst, Duda should just have to remain at 2nd.

[@Verlisify]

The hitting the batter to stop stealing from home is something I never heard of

[@Joe-rj8ch]

Fr

[@samueloverend3517]

Can't the batter just swing at it, turning the HBP into a strike?

[@Alexander_Grant]

Yep, that's what I was taught from the time I started pitching. @samueloverend3517 is also correct, you were taught to keep the bunt up and go for the ball even if it's coming at your head. Turn your head and put the bat towards the ball.

[@terrymorrill4311]

@@samueloverend3517 Swing and miss with the pitch hitting him would be a strike, but it would still be a dead ball.

[@nuggetoftruth865]

Rare instance of verlisify not complaining about a Pokémon player

[@VibeCheck13]

yet we still have the infamous javy baez play 🤣🤣

[@jjwats12]

That’s #1 on the DUMBEST plays of all time, not smartest.

[@ThomasPoorman]

I would call it a heads up play, Baez removed the first baseman’s ability to think when he acted so fast. He acted like he knew something the first baseman didn’t know so he got tricked into ending his own career.

[@VibeCheck13]

@@jjwats12 thats what im saying

[@jjwats12]

@@ThomasPoorman --- If Baez simply stopping on the 1st base path 'removes the 1st baseman's ability to think', that points to how DUMB the 1st baseman responds, not how smart Baez acts. 99,999 times out of 100,000 the first baseman steps on 1st and laughs at Baez. Funniest play in baseball history, though, for sure.

[@mattlongley7362]

@@jjwats12 What bothers me about that play is...why weren't any of the Pirates yelling at Craig to get his head back in the game and step on first? They were going along with it just as much as he was.

[@FrankThe77Tank]

Hold On.. On the Freeman 4th Out play.. After the Ump calls the guy at 1st out for the 3rd out, wouldn’t the play be dead? Even though he’s eventually safe, can’t the runner going to 3rd say he stopped cause the Ump called the 3rd out which should automatically kill the play.. I feel like after being called safe from the challenge, the runner should have to go back to 2nd or whatever base he’s on when the original call was made.. How can they allow the play to keep going??

[@judyjohnson630]

Agreed. NOTHING can happen after the 3rd out call, even if it was due to a bad call and replay later overturns it. The 3rd out was called, the inning was over, the ball was dead, the tag on the runner (think it was Duda) meant nothing, and did not even exist as a baseball play, because the inning was over. If the Mets had challenged the out call at first, that call would have been overturned, and the batter becomes safe at first. That tag put on Duda meant nothing since it happened after a 3rd out was (incorrectly) called. Likewise, when that 3rd out was called, Duda didn't yet reach 3rd base, so he should have been sent back to second base. It *was* a really smart play by Freeman, but I don't think it would have been successful if the Mets challenged. And I wish they did.

[@dangerousfreedom4965]

11:30 the rubber is 60’6” away from the rear point of home plate

[@daysandwords]

Yeah, and the other thing is, he did the maths as "Since he's 8 feet in front, that's 54 feet while everyone else is throwing 62..." But everyone else pitches in front of the rubber as well, so it's really like a 2 feet gain... Basically the length of that little hop he does.

[@peterparker-zy9oe]

@@daysandwords you can actually measure this. Statcast has something called "Release Extension" which measured Carper's average extension to be 8.1 feet in 2015. League average is around 6.3 feet, so you are about right.

[@christopherheckman7957]

The rubber was supposed to be 60 feet even, but the guy who wrote that down had sloppy handwriting.

[@NeweyUC]

@@peterparker-zy9oe Yes, but he doesn't "gain" 8 ft by jumping. His natural motion already has lots of extension due to his height and stride length.

[@kolde6092]

No way that Rollie Fingers Pitch was a strike 😂 That was waaay outside 🤣

[@Nonsensicl]

It was over the plate

[@MikeTracyFiles]

That’s definitely a strike

[@wimpymcsteel4458]

It may have been the smartest play ever, but the Reds went on to tag Fingers, and win the game to keep the series alive.

[@kolde6092]

@@Nonsensicl hell naw! 😂

[@kolde6092]

@@MikeTracyFiles disagree. wish they had pitch cast then. Looks outside to me

[@meetra5073]

nah somebody give the batter at 3:16 a medal. He made contact AND got it safely onto the ground

[@NatesNexus]

That play was insane in so many ways lmao. There's no way the catcher was getting to that tho he should've just taken the ball

[@pentuplemintgum666]

I'm pretty sure Sandoval made contact in the next clip. It was on the backswing when the catcher throws. It's hard to tell, but judging by the missed throw he might have nicked it.

[@TheGeographyNerd]

That Freddie freeman play was insane

[@christopherheckman7957]

Not really, just common sense. If you're not sure you got the 3rd out, try to get an out somewhere else. The runner on 2nd messed up; he should have not taken for granted that the 3rd out had happened and kept running and not slowed down. (This is why, if there's two outs, the runners will start running when the ball hits the bat.)

[@speedydog45]

Show this to a person just learning the rules of baseball to explode their brain

[@KDotDizzy]

i don’t even watch baseball but i love this channel and the thing one thing i do find so interesting about baseball is that all the most interesting, important, or intriguing moments in the sport happen in between the actual moments of the sport being played. so many weird rules, caveats, and traditions that ultimately lead to such interesting stories

[@christopherheckman7957]

There's definitely more to the game than the game. Check out _Baseball Strategies: Your guide to the game within the game_

[@joshdudeguy2830]

As an Astros fan, I'm humbled. I thought Tucker was a damn idiot when I saw that game. Dude's a damn genius!

[@duralumin594]

The baseball equivalent of quick-snapping the football before the opposing coach can throw a challenge flag. Except, in this case, it looks like the umps just flat-out blew the call. Watching the video a couple times, it looks like the third baseman caught the ball with his foot still on the bag _before_ tagging Tucker. So Gurriel should have been called out at that point and the inning would be over. Apparently, it was the umpires who got fooled, not the Diamondbacks. But like they say, "If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid."

[@4546Bean]

Can’t wait to watch coney react to this lmao

[@bangiaryan]

The Coney-BDE symbiotic relationship is the strangest thing and I love it.

[@withershin]

If you're playing on a hard bag at first the 1B probably knows with ~75% accuracy if the runner is safe - just from the feeling on the bag. Super smart play by Freeman at 13:25

[@sam.houseworth]

Former first basemen. Can confirm. And if it's close, pull your foot off, point at your infielder, look at the other runners, convince the ump you know you got the out.

[@IamScoHo]

@@sam.houseworth But it was close. And he didn't do that. Besides, the throw to third was not decided on the runner's contact with the plate. He knew to throw as soon as it was coming his way.

[@withershin]

@@sam.houseworth lol sooooo true. Especially when you know they beat the throw. Even in the majors it's worth doing that. Used to do the trick to toss the ball to 2B and let them go over to first just in case the runner was safe and stepped off the bag

[@rich7787]

I was thinking about that Miggy at bat all video, glad it got mentioned!

[@FireForce2513]

I love how BDE shows an actual hit and run before talking about the hit and run.

[@smalliebigs101]

What are the odds of perfectly capturing a hit-and-run on a live television broadcast.

[@BlindfoldSniper]

@6:30 I'm having to stop the video because I'm dying. This game is so messed up. I love it.

[@pauldeamer9581]

I did the same kkk😂

[@KevinQuinn81]

For those wondering how to defend against the baserunner taking off during an appeal, you as the defending team have to focus on making the appeal as quickly and directly as possible and THEN make a play on the runner. If there were 2 outs and the appeal is successful, the inning is over but if it's not or there are less than 2 outs, you do still need to make a quick play so you can still try and get the runner.

[@charliegrove8142]

Skunk in the outfield is my favorite play ever. The kid in that video should be out though. The basepath, once established, goes directly from the runner to either base. He ran back towards the Right Fielder when “retreating”, which would put him out of the baseline. It can be maneuvered correctly, but I don’t think he did it right.

[@Kyle_116]

No, he wouldn't be out of the path because he was running straight back to where he started. Because the base path only became established once the other team started to try and tag him, the base path became a giant V due to his starting point.

[@rancidcrawfish]

​@@Kyle_116you're 100% right.

[@intrnet9689]

This plays are absolutely amazing for a sport that doesn't exist!

[@the_one_who_knocks89]

Damn, hearing him having to explain how intentional walks used to work makes me feel old as hell

[@kbarrett63]

Solve the baserunning hack by ruling: once a tag is attempted, the runner must proceed straight to the next base or return straight to the previous base

[@johnshaw4137]

That play where 1st and 3rd double stole and the guy on 1st fell... Genius

[@Nick-rb1vk]

I love this video. I love this type of content, If you can cover this more about Smart plays dude I’d watch every single one of them.

[@littleguy6753]

GREAT VIDEO! I laughed at most of them. It's insane how smart umpires have to be to know all of these forgotten rules.

[@hova092]

This is the best channel on KZbin, hands down.

[@Ballinj13]

Great stuff! Another great one!

[@Urbrainongaming]

One of my new fav channels Making me like baseball

[@NinnaFrank]

Good video,thank u. The video proves why they should have to pitch for the intentional walk!

[@mr.triangles]

Didn't expect my Wildcats to get metion so cool!

[@nickisaac8671]

I loved Carter Capps deliver, man. That was the kind of silly games from a pitcher I live for.

[@GTass455in]

Awesome job with this video! Love it. Great research, clip collecting, editing, and COMMENTARY!

[@mudvillemike3]

Rollie Fingers talked about this play on one of Bob Costas' show, I think in the mid to late 2000's. Costas had Fingers, Rich Gossage, Lee Smith, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter and I think Sparky Lyle. According to Fingers, Joe Morgan , who was on 3rd, saw it coming and started yelling to Johnny Bench , but apparently Bench never heard him. I've never been able to find the episode, but it was fantastic hearing about the history of the relief pitcher.

[@noahs4127]

Always a good day when BDE uploads

[@emilyabel5428]

Love your content man keep it up😊

[@Connerslam405]

Yep

[@posapop27]

My favorite video of yours yet, keep ‘em coming 😉

[@user-ti3hd8gw2m]

Was hoping to see the College Center Fielder fake a catch before catching the ball, and throwing the runner out, by making the runner leave the bag early.

[@krushfield]

2:28 "and the next time he came to the plate, he was also nailed by a pitch." 😂🤣

[@4thegloryofthelord]

Kudos for making this video... had to be a lot of work and research. Very educational. You know your baseball stuff for sure.

[@A38]

Hype, perfect meal time video! Thanks for all the hard work!

[@chizzingchizzle]

It’s always a good day when bde posts

[@IntoxicatedSteaze]

your videos have gotten me back into baseball

[@Lillia-nu2xt]

You've got talent, keep showcasing it

[@CashCarti24]

I love your videos

[@PatrickCashman-kp4uu]

Can you do a video on the history of stadiums?

[@sam.houseworth]

What stadiums? They don't exist.

[@PatrickCashman-kp4uu]

@@sam.houseworth no like how they started and how they have changed the game of baseball

[@EdibleGlue369]

5:31 My little league coach had us do this all the time. He was obsessed with trick plays and this one he literally called this the Skunk play

[@sleder47]

Thanks!

[@rosairyramos6395]

So fun to watch

[@tehbeernerd]

Johnny Damon’s double steal in the 2009 World Series is the one that comes to mind for me

[@melissabusby12]

Please never stop making videos… Baseball is SO Awesome!!!!

[@andrewclement4781]

He was so discombobulated 😂

[@hughjass69702]

I never thought I would laugh at a kid getting hit with a bat but holy hell 😂

[@Lateralus-yf3ek]

Great video as always. Thank you

[@dleddy14]

Ok that runner in the outfield trick made me laugh so hard I spit my coke all over my computer.

[@JtBaxter-pb9ij]

I love my UK BatCats!! They turning a Basketball school into a baseball school just like I always wanted!! Fun time to be here in Lexington because they made the World Series this year too. Anyway another great video my dude ❤the content! 👍

[@tigercap100]

I've seen 1000s of youtube videos. This is one of the best. Great job!

[@Canis101a]

dude this is crazy such a good video i think i might have to use that 50 foot lead thing some day lol

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

I like these plays alot of these are tricking to get a guy on third to score and sacing a player to make it even more secure. 3ft from the base path trick was smart.😊

[@DankTranquillity]

What a treat never been this early

[@mackenziecoleman8103]

1:39 “throw off the catcher” dude knocked him the fuck out lmao

[@GenericYoutubeCommenter241]

I always love your content but videos like this are some of your best work. I love your efforts and results!

[@ljbara6795]

Your videos are awesome always. But this is a MASTERPIECE. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@SaucySquishy]

Honestly I don’t even watch baseball but his videos make me so excited

[@officalredux]

He’s back!

[@averyward7520]

Crazy that I found this channel when they had like 50k subscribers. So happy you continue to make videos. Best baseball videos ever!

[@julienwisemanvezina7047]

ur channel is amazing i wish u did this for hockey

[@Buzzkill-wn7tf]

Freakin' love baseball.

[@RetconFN]

When he uploads I get so excited 🎉

[@JosephDalton-xc1iw]

Running through second base is one of the smartest new changes in baseball.

[@seanm3226]

As a Marlins fan, I was amazed that Carter Capps got away with that “jump” towards the plate.

[@jeffarmfield2346]

Awesome video

[@codygeis3288]

“Throwing off the catcher” bro you mean murdering the catcher lmao

[@phnxen3rg666]

Wow man what an amazing video. The strategy involved in baseball makes it one of the best sports in the world.

[@wilfordbrimley6938]

When I was in a league in high school we would have the center fielder come in for pick-offs on 2nd. Coach would act like he's just waving in the outfield to play shallow, but then center would sprint to the base. Waving with his hat was the pick-off sign. 3 Stooges level design, but it worked several times 🤷‍♂️🤣

[@rogeriovaladao7969]

As always fantastic video BDE

[@slayermcrx7519]

that clip you showed of the runner in the outfield was my now former highachools rival Alexander High School of Laredo, Texas. Alexander has been known to be aggressive on the basepass, so our coached at United constantly ran drills with our pitchers to focus on runner control. and yet they couldn't pull that off against us this year. because my Alma mater United H.S. finally captured our first district title in 13 years in a series sweep of Alexander back in April. anyway it was cool seeing a clip showing laredo high school teams for the first time I've ever seen on the internet!!!

[@epictrickshots8327]

The ad read with ohtani on the angels 💀

[@keithbrescia9893]

Cabrera's hit on the intentional walk attempt reminded me of a long ago All Star game, in which Al Kaline threw his bat at such a pitch and got a hit.

[@manbuckets]

That thumbnail is wild!

[@milissagibson7806]

The old grandpas gunna be mad at this one

[@magicoA]

That faceplant stealing of second was genius.

[@patrickhall9675]

i might try this

[@Weegzy52]

I really enjoyed this video!👍

[@Gas_Station_Tampons]

Sponsor : "Fresh Frozen Foods" Gordon Ramsay : 😠

[@yvnokarlo]

Now runners have a shift?

[@soznomic]

I'm sorry but that's just really funny. SMARTEST PLAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY and it's just "You thought I was gonna throw a ball, but I ACTUALLY threw a strike!"

[@robkilbride9242]

The not sliding into second is making my head explode. How did no one ever think of this until now? Of course sliding slows you down!!!! It's only done in case the runner is safe anyway so why not do it if it looks like the runner would likely be out anyway?

[@Voterolays]

10:15 ad ends your welcome

[@Connerslam405]

I did not know every one of these smart decisions I am going to use them in my next baseball game

[@brianarbenz1329]

The way to avoid ever being thrown out in an MLB baseball game is this: On your way to tryout for a Major League team, turn around and go somewhere else instead. It worked for me.

[@Ascending11]

That last play, i recall the Yankees doing the same thing, but that one was more iconic due to the catcher calling the strike.

[@Er1c_9]

That Kyle Tucker play must’ve pissed of so many people, making it even funnier to me😂😂

[@SvoenDiccr]

If you're playing on a hard bag at first, the 1B can probably tell if the runner is safe with around 75% accuracy merely by feeling the bag. Incredible move by Freeman at 13:25

[@SuoisXius]

Keep showing off your talent, you have it.