[greymule]

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.

That's what happens to me. I've been seeing something wrong but not calling it until I figure out what it was. I like your advice: call it first, then figure out what happened.

I pitched in college, too. (In those days you could "stop" by merely changing direction, so I made sure I pushed that rule to its limit.) But in all those games, I actually balked only once (moved my left leg a little after the stop). The defense screamed, but the umps didn't call it. I trained myself to step off backward the instant something started to happen, so that helped.

Actually, I cannot remember a single balk call on any pitcher over my college career.