I don't know much about baseball so maybe somebody can explain to me how Robinson steals home plate in the first Montreal game shown. We see him run, the pitcher throws to third instead of to the batter. We don't see what happens to the ball, we only see the manager yelling "off!" and the umpire signals to Robinson to run home where the batter shakes hi hand. What am I missing?
Thanks.
Just finished watching that scene. The manager doesn't yell "off"...he yells "balk".
In baseball, the pitcher needs to come to a complete stop before his windup, and if he starts to pitch toward the plate, he can't change and throw toward a base. In this case, the pitcher was guilty of the latter, and a balk was charged. A balk allows the runners to advance one base.
So Jackie technically didn't steal home...he was given a base due to a balk.
The manager is yelling "balk." That's a baseball term. A balk is when the pitcher starts to throw toward the batter, but then turns and throws to a base, or just stops. Once starting to throw a pitch toward the batter, the pitcher must finish. If not, it's a balk and a rule violation. The base runner is awarded the next base. So in the movie, the pitcher starts a pitch toward the batter, but then turns and throws to third. The manager yelled "balk" and the umpires agreed and awarded Robinson home thus scoring a run.
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