Quote:
Originally posted by bob jenkins
Quote:
Originally posted by LDUB
Dusting the rubber saved me just a few days back. A ground ball was hit to F6, who threw it out of play. I called time, and awarded the BR second base. I then threw got a new ball out of my ball bag, and threw it back to the pitcher. But the ball slipped out of my hand and went out into centerfield, and F6 went to retrieve it. The BR did not notice any of this for he was taking signs from one of the coaches. F1, then winked at F6 (F6 never threw the ball back to the pitcher), and F1 stepped on rubber. I was all over that balk call. I really sold it well.
Now if I haden't dusted the rubber earlier in the inning, then I might have thought that F1 was just astride the rubber without the ball. What if I called that a balk? I would be pretty red faced, that's for sure.
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Good joke, LDUB. Almost Lance-like.
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Really. I mean, considering the ball was never legally made live -- you can't have a hidden ball balk after a dead ball.
I've said this dozens of times -- if the pitcher is acting like he is on the mound, he is. No amount of dirt on the pitcher's plate makes a bit of difference. If he makes a motion associated with a pitch and it turns out he's not on the rubber, it's a balk. I don't need to see the pitcher's plate to know he's on it -- or not.
[Edited by Rich Fronheiser on May 8th, 2005 at 01:04 AM]