In baseball the pitcher has a rosin bag, usually on/behind the mound(so it will seldom hit the ball in play) the rosin dries liquid from the hands.I it is common in children's leagues when the first baseman gets the ball too late and the runner is safe so the child will fake a throw back to the pitcher while still holding the ball in his glove. If the runner takes a "lead" he can then be tagged out. This is legal in professional ball, but with a adult runner and adult base coach it seldom works and is embarrassing to try.
Do you think the donkey graffito is why nobody is allowed to draw Mohammad (not insulting him) just saying he may have learned from existing religious insults.