[Jim Porter]

Jim, Dave, etc.,

Let's first get this, "Is it a balk or not a balk?" question out of the way.

Please allow me to quote the great Bill Klem, inarguably the father of modern umpiring. Bill Klem said, "It ain't nothin' 'til I call it." He was right. If we don't call it a balk, it ain't a balk. "Semantics," you might argue. "Truth," is what I would say.

You can argue 'til you're blue in the face about the NAPBL Manual, about the OBR, Jim Evans's Annotated, and what all the books and manuals say about a pitcher who improperly disengages. But what those books fail to mention is exactly when our judgment, discretion, and common sense are required.

If you followed every single letter in every single official or authoritative source and you penalize and enforce every chance you get, you might consider yourself a good baseball umpire. Unfortunately, you will be the only one considering yourself that way. (translation: You won't be moving up very quickly, and don't expect post-season assignments.)

I have experienced quite the opposite of what Dave Hensley said he has experienced. At levels above Little League, umpires here tend to have too much rules knowledge and not enough umpiring sense. It comes from having too much information before the experience.

This happened with an umpire I worked with last year. Perhaps this will bring up a new scenario for debate. The pitcher was in the stretch position. He received his signs. The third base coach was yelling at his batter, "Jason, step out and get your signs. Jason! Step out!"

Well, Jason stepped out with one foot and begun taking his signs. The pitcher did not disengage from the rubber. Instead, he stood up and relaxed. He reached in his glove with his pitching hand to toy with the ball, and then reached up to adjust his glasses. Yep, this pitcher's hands came together and then parted.

"Balk!" called the lone voice from my partner. I left my mask on hoping that no one could see my face.

This umpire did not recieve any post-season assignments last year beyond 9 & 10 year-old Little League All-Stars at the local level. Certainly this one call didn't do all that, but it was symptomatic of his inexperience.

The whole world knew what was going on. The pitcher, even though still engaged, was, for all intents and purposes, disengaged. The runner wasn't leading, the batter was out of the box, and no one expected this balk call.

So what manual or rulebook says that all a pitcher has to do is, "relax," while engaged and he will be considered to be disengaged? None. But all the experienced, veteran umpires in my area would not call a balk on the above pitcher. They, too, would consider him as disengaged. Unless the pitcher had attempted some sort of trick play, or pick-off attempt, he simply didn't balk. It ain't a balk 'cause no one would've called it.

So, I cannot and will not ever be able to control how you call your games on your fields. I can, however, offer my advice that you think long and hard about how to use your discretion, judgment, and common sense. Your umpiring future depends upon it.