How to Steal Home
The most risky and probably the most exciting play in baseball is the steal of home plate. It should only be attempted rarely, but it can score a run, fire up your team and wow your fans all at the same time.
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Instructions
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1
Access the game situation to ensure a steal of home is justified. You must only attempt to steal home with two outs because there are plenty of other ways to score from third base with less than two outs. The game must be in the late innings when attempting a steal to home, because early in the game you have more opportunities to score. Steal home if the hitter at the plate is a weak hitter who is not likely to drive you in with a hit.
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2
See if the right people are in place. It is best to steal home when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound because his back will be to you as he is pitching. It is not necessary to have a right-handed batter at the plate, but it helps because he will block the catcher's view of you.
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3
See if the pitcher is in a windup. It is extremely hard to steal home when the pitcher is in the stretch because you cannot get a big enough lead. A pitcher will often use the windup if the only runner on base is at third and there are two outs.
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4
Get a big lead gradually. Move closer and closer to home plate slowly so you do not draw attention to yourself. By the time the pitcher is ready to start his windup, you need to be 25 to 30 feet down the line.
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5
Continue moving slowly toward home plate and as soon as the pitcher raises his hands to begin the windup start running full speed. At this point it is too late to abort your steal of home, so keep going and hope for the best.
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6
Use a hook slide to make yourself harder for the catcher to tag out. The ball will probably beat you to home plate, so the key will be keeping yourself from getting tagged out. Slide with your body in front of home plate and curl your top leg so it will catch the plate on your slide by.
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Tips & Warnings
A right-handed batter should stay in the box until the last second before you arrive at the plate. The batter can't interfere with the play, but can block the catcher's view until the runner arrives. Go over this in advance with any teammates who might be involved in a possible steal of home.
