The hidden-ball trick is old news, as the Philadelphia Phillies utilized social engineering to fool Josh Thole into an out during the second inning of tonight's Mets-Phils matchup in Philadelphia.


The Mets catcher reached on a single and was moved to second on R.A. Dickey's successful sacrifice bunt—except the Phillies convinced Thole the bunt went foul, and Thole was tagged out attempting to return to first. It's not really Thole's fault, as his first-base coach should have alerted him to what was going on. Or, then again, perhaps he did and he ran through the "turn around and go back to second" sign—though I can't imagine what that one looks like. [SNY]