History Main / CallingYourShots

** On four different occasions during the 1995 Atlanta Braves season, he was sitting next to fellow future Hall of Famer John Smoltz in the Atlanta dugout and warned him that someone would hit a foul ball there. Three of those warnings were followed almost immediately by a line drive into said dugout.

* Invoked, lampshaded and then subverted in ''Film/MajorLeague''. Early in the film when he first gets to the Indians' stadium, Jake Taylor (Creator/TomBerenger) steps up to the plate and calls an imaginary home run. Near the end of the movie he pulls out this ChekhovsGun during the BigGame (see inset photo, above), emulating Babe Ruth (see RealLife, below). The opposing pitcher, annoyed by being shown up, nearly takes Taylor's head off with his first pitch. Undeterred, Taylor calls his shot again. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Then he bunts]].

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* ''Literature/PracticalDemonkeeping'' features a pool example. Travis cheats at pool by having his invisible demon, Catch, move the balls where he calls them. Usually.

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* In the ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode "A Game of Pool", Fats and Jesse call their shots in a game of pool. The most impressive shot is when Jesse calls the side pocket after bouncing off three banks and making it.

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* Invoked, lampshaded and then subverted in ''Film/MajorLeague''. Early in the film when he first gets to the Indians' stadium, Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) steps up to the plate and calls an imaginary home run. Near the end of the movie he pulls out this ChekhovsGun during the BigGame (see inset photo, above), emulating Babe Ruth (see RealLife, below). The opposing pitcher, annoyed by being shown up, nearly takes Taylor's head off with his first pitch. Undeterred, Taylor calls his shot again. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Then he bunts]].

* In billiards, straight pool (14.1 continuous) requires you to call every shot. Eight ball rules make concessions for play either way; it's up to the players or tournament/league director to decide, but the final 8-ball shot is generally always called. If shot is made but the player either scratches (sinks the cue ball with the shot) or sinks the 8-ball into a pocket other than the one that was called, [[AllForNothing then that player automatically loses the game]].

* In billiards, straight pool (14.1 continuous) requires you to call every shot. Eight ball rules make concessions for play either way; it's up to the players or tournament/league director to decide, but the final 8 ball shot is generally always called. If you call an 8-ball shot but don't sink it in the pocket you called, [[AllForNothing you automatically lose the game]].

* In Billards, straight pool (14.1 continuous) requires you to call every shot. Eight ball rules make concessions for play either way; it's up to the players or tournament/league director to decide, but the final 8 ball shot is generally always called.

* Invoked, lampshaded and then subverted in ''Film/MajorLeague''. Early in the film when he first gets to the Indians' stadium, Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) steps up to the plate and calls an imaginary home run. Near the end of the movie he pulls out this ChekhovsGun during the BigGame (see inset photo, above), emulating Babe Ruth (see RealLife, below). [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Then he bunts]].

* Babe Ruth [[MemeticMutation famously did this]] just before hitting a home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, although opinions differ on whether or not Ruth was actually pointing to center field or merely gesturing towards the hecklers on the Chicago Cub bench. (Cub pitcher Charlie Root insisted that if Ruth had actually pointed to the bleachers and announced he was going to hit a homer, Root would have hit him with the next pitch.) One video of the at bat showed Ruth angrily thrusting his index finger several times in an indeterminate direction. Most [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQlvaiDNBMQ videos]] show Ruth pointing in a still shot. It seems to be towards the pitcher's mound or towards the Cubs bench. Ruth, naturally, had no problem feeding the story he'd called the home run, though some accounts say he didn't point to centerfield, just yelled that he was hitting the pitch out.

* Babe Ruth [[MemeticMutation famously did this]] just before hitting a home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, although opinions differ on whether or not Ruth was actually pointing to center field or merely gesturing towards the hecklers on the Chicago Cub bench. (Cub pitcher Charlie Root insisted that if Ruth had actually pointed to the bleachers and announced he was going to hit a homer, Root would have hit him with the next pitch.) A video of the at bat showed Ruth angrily thrusting his index finger several times in an indeterminate direction. It seems to be towards the pitcher's mound.

* Babe Ruth [[MemeticMutation famously did this]] just before hitting a home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, although opinions differ on whether or not Ruth was actually pointing to center field or merely gesturing towards the hecklers on the Chicago Cub bench. (Cub pitcher Charlie Root insisted that if Ruth had actually pointed to the bleachers and announced he was going to hit a homer, Root would have hit him with the next pitch.)

* At a slinging competition in the book ''[[{{Redwall}} High Rhulain]]'', all the participants must declare what their targets are before slinging at a pinata-like target (the head is worth more than the legs which is worth more than the body). The heroine declares "two eyes and a head" and hits them, a never-before seen feat.

* A 1993 McDonalds commercial has basketball legends Larry Bird and Michael Jordan playing a variant of H.O.R.S.E. (first one to miss loses), calling more and more ridiculous shots.

* Babe Ruth [[MemeticMutation famously did this]] just before hitting a home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, although opinions differ on whether or not Ruth was actually pointing to center field or merely gesturing towards the hecklers on the Chicago Cub bench.

* In the middle of the 20th century, New York City banned all {{Pinball}} machines on the notion that the game [[NewMediaAreEvil were a form of gambling.]] The ban ended only when writer Creator/RogerSharpe testified before a committee that pinball was ''not'' a game of chance, but required skill and finesse. The convincing demonstration came when he announced that he would launch his next ball through the center lane at the top of the playfield, then [[ImprobableAimingSkills proceeded to do exactly that.]]

Compare CallingYourAttacks (which isn't ''quite'' the same but does cross over a lot).

* ''VideoGames/TeamFortress2'': The Scout's Home Run taunt has him imitating Babe Ruth's famous pose.

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. In sports, sometimes a player will say or point to where his shot will go before he makes it. The point of this is to show your skill when you put it where you called it; if you don't make the anticipated shot it usually doesn't count. This is often a rule in some sports such as billiards.

* In the ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode "A Game of Pool", Fats and Jesse call their shots in [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a game of pool.]] The most impressive shot is when Jesse calls the side pocket after bouncing off three banks and making it.

!!!Examples:

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': When Homer becomes the star player on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team, at one point he points to left field calling his home run. Then he hits a homer to right field. He stands there looking silly for a moment, then [[IMeantToDoThat retroactively calls his shot to right field instead]].

-->Travis: "I said ''corner'' pocket!!!"
-->Local pool hustler: "I heard you, stranger. Looks like you put a bit too much English on it.''

!!!Examples

* Babe Ruth [[MemeticMutation famously did this]] just before hitting a home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, although opinions differ on whether or not Ruth was actually pointing to center field or merely gesturing towards the hecklers on the Chicago Cub bench.