"DISAPPEARING PITCH" A NEW ONE ON UMPIRE, FANS

From the San Antonio Star:

John Worley thought he'd seen everything there was to see on the baseball diamond. But he was forced to admit he was wrong last night during the Altamont High/ Glassport High baseball game, for which he was the plate umpire. During the seventh inning of that game fans, players, and Worley were stunned by Altamont Pitcher Daryl Gladd's "disappearing pitch." Worley saw the pitch leave the pitcher's hand, then (reportedly) saw a shimmer of light, followed by the complete absence of the ball. "I didn't know what had happened. I looked around, and the fans were in pandemonium. The batter was just standing there, stunned, and the catcher was running back to the backstop, thinking it had been a passed ball. But the ball was nowhere to be found. Even the pitcher looked confused as the players swirled around him, and some of the Glassport players began yelling about illegal supers in the game." A thorough search of the field did not yield the ball, and the game was eventually resumed, but not before a near brawl broke out between frustrated players. "In the end, I had to call the pitch a ball, since it did not penetrate the strike zone." No explanation for where the ball went, or how the disappearing pitch had been accomplished, was ever offered by Gladd or his coach. In the end, the pitch did not prove to be the strategic turning point, as Glassport won 9 to 5.