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w_sohl,
Believe it or not, it's the "faking a throw to first" part of the rule that was violated, hence the balk.
When an in-contact pitcher initiates a pick-off move to 1B, he must complete the throw, and the throw must be near enough to 1B (in the umpire's judgement) that a play could have been attempted in the immediate vicinity of 1B.
So, it is not so much that the F3 is "moving in", it's that the pitcher threw to him rather than to the base. If the pitcher had thrown to the base, whther the ball sailed on through, hit the runner, or even the base coach, it would not have been a balk.
Since he started a move to 1B and did not complete the throw to 1B, it is a balk.
JM
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