Quote:
Originally posted by officialtony
JV game. Runner at 2nd. Pitching from the set position. the pitcher lifts his left leg and turns his body to 2nd base and leans at the runner and pauses just for a snitch and then comes to the plate. This is a hard one to describe but his body and leg do go towards 2nd a bit and he does pause ever so slightly and then turns to deliver the pitch. What bothers me is the discernible pause and the left leg and body leaning toward 2nd before he comes to the plate. With this little bit of information could I get an opinion as to a balk or what to look for to make sure this is/isn't a balk?
Thanks in advance.
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IIITBTSB [well, damn near]
This "pause": was it longer than that necessitated by the laws of physics in F1's change of direction [i.e.: if'n it'd been his "set", you'd say he
did stop]? And
nothing of F1's body [not an arm or a leg, or his trunk] was still moving during this "pause"?
Hard to say w/o seeing it, but it sounds to me like nothin' more than F1 "rearing back" to bring the heat.
Now, if he comes to a stock-statute-dead stop and hangs there for a second or so with his foot in mid-air like something out of "The Karate Kid": OK, maybe I've got a balk for failing to deliver in a continuous, uninterrupted motion.
But the leg & body turn [and even the "lean"] by themselves mean squat; and 9 times out of 10 when I hear a coach get excited about a ?balk? like this, what really has their shorts in a knot is they
thought F1 was gonna go to 2d Base, not home, due to the turn of the body & leg motion. Sorry, coach, his whole stinkin' free foot can go back of the rubber & his body can turn to face Pluto for all I care, & F1 can still go home, as long as he does it in a continuous motion.