Steve,
Whew. And I mean, "Whew!"
I gotta hand you one thing - - you're very good at manipulating language around your idea of what is correct.
You went through a lot of trouble for nothing, Steve. You've gotten confused between a balk with play being kept alive because of a
batted ball and a balk with play being kept alive because of an
overthrow.
The two just aren't the same.
Of all those quotes from the NAPBL that you provided, you seemed to have left out the one
definitive quote.
Quote:
NAPBL 6.7: "The question arises as to when the umpire is to call "Time" to kill the ball after calling a balk. The following cases should help explain when play is considered "stopped'~ and at what moment the umpire should call "Time" following the call of balk:
1. If the pitcher balks and does not throw the ball, call 'That's a balk; time' and enforce the balk."
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By golly, Steve, I don't see how it can be any clearer. If the fake or feint as posted by Rich is not a clear cut case of a pitcher who, "balked and did not throw the ball," then I don't know what is. The very definition of a fake or feint requires that the throw is not made.
You've got to get over this idea that the offense creates the live ball in this situation. It does not. The offense has absolutely nothing to do with it. The
only question is whether the pitcher, who balked on his pick-off throw, threw wild on that pick-off throw.
- If he doesn't complete the throw, time is imposed by the umpire, and the balk penalty enforced.
- If he completes the throw, and the ball is caught, time is imposed by the umpire, and the balk penalty enforced.
Where does the offense figure in to this?
Nonetheless, Jim Evans makes it perfectly clear (if the NAPBL Manual wasn't good enough for you.) His rulings make perfect sense, and your arguments do not. It is that simple a matter.