Fri Mar 25, 2005, 01:18am
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Official Forum Member
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Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 842
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Re: Hard to know where to start .....
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Originally posted by cbfoulds
Nick:
I agree that both of your sitches are [at least probably] balks. However, there are parts of your explanations to large I could not disagree with more.
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Balk #1: When any kind of a jump move is made by the pitcher, both feet must land in front of the rubber, and the non-pivot foot must gain ground and direction towards the base being thrown to.
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The non-italicised part is correct [and the reason why this was probably a balk]: I don't know where the part I put in italics comes from. If F1 does his Mexican Jumping Bean act with his hands together, and lands with one foot in front and the pivot behind the rubber before he separates his hands: it seems to me that he has met the rule req's for "stepping off". Is there a Case Book play or manual reference I have forgotten?
'Course, Coach was wrong: if his hands separated before his pivot foot landed on the ground behind the rubber, then he did not "step off" prior to the pick attempt, and his stride foot must gain distance and direction toward the base, ot it's a balk. I am presuming that this is what happened, and why you correctly balked him.
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Balk #2: After coming set, a pitcher can only do three things. A) Deliver a pitch to the plate. B) Step towards and throw to a base, or feint if not 1st. C) Step off the rubber. In this balk, the pitcher broke his hands, began his throwing motion to 1st, and then stepped off. Not allowed. If he is going to step off, he must do it before beginning any throwing or pitching motion.
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The pitching motion part I'll give you, but the part about any step off has to be before F1 starts to throw to a base is just wrong. He can't hesitate or double-clutch, true: but it's not separately a balk if he steps back off the rubber. Coach is wrong here, again, stepping off AFTER separating his hands is no defense to failing to gain distance and direction. Your reason for this balk is adequately explained in the first post: "Non-piviot foot never moves"
Bob's advice is sound, to the extent you need to explain a balk, stick to words out of the Rule Book. Any time you need to resort to "interpretations" that are not near word-for-word out of the text, there is a better-than-even chance you will be wrong; either in the explanation or in calling the balk itself.
cowboy:
If he separates his hands [after coming set], THEN steps off, and never moves his stride foot, that's a balk. Always.
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I'll agree with you on that, if it is obvious that he did that. The way I read the original post the seperation of the hands, step off, and throw was done so quickly that I cannot see it being called a balk as the move was in an obvious move to first. It is like mentioned by Jessie and the other instructors at the camp I went to concerning the bend in the knee. The pitcher is going to slighlty bend the knee in making a move to a bag or the plate and that if there is no hesitation once the knee bends slightly and the rest of his move, to not call that a balk. If there is hesitation then nail it. In this case, if the time between the hands seperating and the "step off" is so minimal that it would be nit picking, digging for boogers or whatever other term you want to put on it. I would have to really see the move to really determine if I would call it a balk or not.
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Jim
Need an out, get an out. Need a run, balk it in.
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