Where is the line between innovation and cheating in baseball?
Professional baseball has long been a proving ground for new ways to fool crowds and umpires, from sign stealing to illegal hacking operations to a little extra spit on the ball to get the perfect curve in a pitch.
But there's a fine line between fair and unfair advantages, written and unwritten rules of the game.
That line is at the center of a new book from Dan Levitt and Mark Armour called "Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Long And Sordid History Of Innovation and Cheating." Soundside caught up with Armour and Levitt to hear about some of the most notorious baseball scandals, the goofiest, and what makes baseball stand apart from other major sporting leagues when it comes to cheating.
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Libby Denkmann
Host, Soundside
Libby Denkmann joined KUOW in December 2021 as the host of the midday show Soundside. She’s a native Pacific Northwesterner who grew up in Redmond, graduated from the University of Washington and covered local news as a producer and reporter with KIRO Radio.
More stories from Libby Denkmann » -
Alec Cowan
Producer, Soundside
Alec Cowan is a producer for Soundside. His interests have brought many eclectic stories to the program, and his segments gravitate toward history, technology, art and design, and ecology.
More stories from Alec Cowan »
