The 'Ball 5' chant is the best home-field advantage in baseball

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Konnor Pilkington knew it was coming.

The Mississippi State pitcher had seen all the viral video clips. He'd been warned by his coaches and teammates. He'd heard horror stories. He'd hoped, he'd prayed, that it wouldn't happen to him.

"Oh yeah, they're known for that," Pilkington, now in the D-backs organization, told me in a call. "That's just one of those things they're known for at Texas A&M baseball. You try not to think about it because you don't wanna be put in that situation. But I walked right into it."

With runners on second and third, Pilkington fell behind two balls and zero strikes to the batter at the plate. His manager motioned for him to throw two more balls and load the bases to set up a potential inning-ending double play. Sure, maybe a smart play for the team, but not so great for Pilkington.

Four straight balls meant the Aggies fans' relentless, suffocating, can't-think, can't-pitch "Ball 5" chant would begin. An unending chorus that gets louder and stronger and more ravenous as balls continue to get thrown. Like a pack of kids watching a piñata get slowly hacked away. A lonely, torturous place to be if you're the pitcher.

This version of the chant would get all the way to a mind-melting Ball 12, and then, two pitches later, end in an Aggies grand slam.

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