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I know people hate playing "What-if" games here, but Rich brought up a very good scenario...
R2, R3. Previous batter flied out and R2 had just tagged up and advanced from 1B. Pitcher in the windup, coach yells "Bubba, step off and appeal to 1B!" So the pitcher steps off with his free foot, and...
Balk or no balk?
Or we could modify the original scenario...
R3, coach yells at pitcher to go from the stretch, so the pitcher steps off with his free foot. No balk called. So while the pitcher is off the rubber, R3 is dancing off the base to draw the throw, and before the pitcher gets back on the rubber he fires a throw to 3B...
Are we supposed to "retroactively" call a balk, since the pitcher made a play after illegally disengaging the rubber?
My point is that Carl's advice seems to be too much of a blanket statement, whereas I can see this no-call being appropriate at a certain level and in a particular situation. I can see some people taking this advice too literally and making this no-call in an inappropriate situation such as the ones outlined above.
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