Quote:
Originally posted by cbfoulds
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See, there's your poblem: the gorilla arm is
specifically prohibited by rule [complete with penalty - balk] - pitcher's arm must be @ his side or behind his back. Only, until this year damn near no-one called it, 'cause it's a "don't do that" in OBR. As far as I can recollect, there are no "unenumerated" balks in the FED canon: every balk is for violation of a specific requirement or prohibition; thus if it's not outlawed, it's permitted.
Choose 2. [/B][/QUOTE]
2: As far as no one calling gorilla stance a balk until this year let me give you a little history. Last year (2004) the NF rules committee added three little words to Rule 6-1-2. The last sentence in the article currently reads: During delivery, he may lift his non-pivot foot in a step forward, A STEP SIDEWAYS, or in a step backward and a step forward, but he shall not otherwise lift either foot. They added a step sideways. Why the rules change?
You can find the reason on page 7 of the NFHS / Referee baseball guide 2004 under the bold heading SIDEWAYS STEP IS LEGAL. Reason given: "Previous coverage did not include a sideways step, although it has always been allowed by umpires."
In layman terms the FED is saying that the sideways step previously was a balk (ie not allowed in the rules) but since the umpires were allowing it (or not calling it) they legalized the move.
You said yourself that umpires were not calling the gorilla stance a balk until this year. If the NF can legalize the sideways step because no one was calling it a balk they can legalize the gorilla stance also for the same reason.