Quote:
Originally posted by greymule
Mine's balks. If I could magically be completely competent in one area of baseball officiating, that would be it.
Not that I see a lot of balks, but when they do occur, I always seem to think, "What the heck was that?" I watch the tapes over and over, but the pitcher never seems to do something I'm prepared for.
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My problems lie in other areas. I've never had a problem identifying balks. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I pitched in college and I have been the pitching coach for several teams.
I call balks almost on reflex. I'll see "something wrong", and bellow out, "That's a balk!" And then ... my mind starts racing as I try to categorize what I just saw within the framework of the balk rules. I'm 100% certain what I just saw was a balk - but the REASON is not always on the tip of my tongue. As we all know - somebody's going to want a reason.
Of course, this isn't true for all balks. Some are easy to call and obvious to everybody.
My most embarrassing moment with a balk was when I wasn't paying very close attention. A right-hander, quickly spun to attempt a pickoff at 1st ... and didn't throw.
I called it a balk.
The pitcher looked at me with this incredulous look, "But I stepped off!" See? I told you I wasn't paying attention. The kid must have been right because there was a chorus of others making the same claim.
I looked at my partner who gave me that weird nod. I screwed up. So, I just gave it my best Emily Latilla ... "Never mind, then." Everybody chuckled and the game proceeded
without the balk. Everybody thought justice was done but I felt 2-inches tall. I pay closer attention now.
MY PROBLEM AREA: I have trouble with force plays where the initial throw would normally retire the runner easily, but the fielder drops the ball and then picks it up quickly, turning what was going to be routine into a banger. This usually happens to the pivot man on a double play. The throw arrives in plenty of time, but the pivot man bobbles it, drops it, and then quickly picks it up to try to salvage the play and get ONE out. I have a hard time getting my timing down for that.
There are lot of similar plays. Basically, it comes down to the fact that I am sometimes surprised when a routine play goes south. I think I relax my mind a bit and then I have difficult time getting it back in gear a split second later for a difficult call. I know that you should never expect a play to be routine ... but, unfortunately, I do.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Feb 18th, 2005 at 01:23 AM]