[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by legacy zebra

a friend of mine's son is playing in a league that uses obr and relayed this question to me, so i don't have all the details. But from what i understand...

Runner on 1st, 1 out. The runner breaks for second. The pitcher steps toward and starts to throw to 1st. He then tries to stop that motion, but the ball still comes out of his hand and rolls about 10 feet toward 1st. He then picks it up and overthrows 2nd at which point the runner goes to 3rd. His questions are...

Is this a balk for throwing to an unoccupied base since the runner was no longer there? no - he's there until he gets to 2b.


is this a balk for stepping toward 1st and failing to actually throw the ball to 1st? no - it went toward 1b

if it is a balk, when should the ball be declared dead? when the ball is picked up and all runners have stopped advancing.

now - it could be a balk if the umpire considered it a dropped ball rather than a sucky throw.


does anything change depending on whether or not the pitcher stepped of the rubber before he stepped toward 1st? yes. If he stepped off first he'd be an infielder and no balk would be possible.

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