Finding the Hidden Ball Trick

Through many years of research, Bill Deane has documented 260 successful hidden-ball tricks—putting the rarity of the play roughly in the class of the no-hitter. Along the way, he has collected the often-hilarious stories of these plays and the men who pulled them.

Bill Deane was Senior Research Associate at the National Baseball Hall of Fame from 1986 through 1994. He has authored six books on baseball and was managing editor of Total Baseball. Deane won the SABR-Macmillan Baseball Research Award for his book, Award Voting, and in 2003 he won the Utica-Cooperstown SABR chapter's "Cliff Kachline Award."

Introduction What is the Hidden-Ball Trick? History of the Trick Masters of the Trick . and Their Victims 1876-89: The Early Tricks 1890-99: Gaiety in the '90s 1900-09: Coughlin Corner Tricks 1910-19: Ban Tries to Ban It 1920-29: A Decade Dominated by Babe Who? 1930-39: The Crow Flies High 1940-49: Pesky Holding the Ball 1950-59: Step off the Base a Minute, Will Ya? 1960-69: Stick Was Slick 1970-79: Elementary, My Dear Watson 1980-89: Happy Birthday, Kid! 1990-99: Master Matt 2000-Present: A Dying Art? Tricks Gone Awry Unsubstantiated Possibilities Odds and Ends Chronological Listing Appendix A: Successful Executions of the Hidden Ball Trick Appendix B: Unsubstantiated Possibilities Bibliography Notes Index About the Author