I never quite got around to responding to the thread which is now "locked". When I first read it, my reaction was: "Kind of sounds like a balk, but I'm really not sure."
So, I tried it myself at home. What I learned is that in lifting my pivot foot "more than a little" prior to stepping it behind the rubber, my front shoulder (and entire body) leaned in the direction of home plate. It's quite noticeable. You cannot (well, I cannot) maintain your balance when doing this (i.e. lifting the pivot foot high) without making a noticeable body movement in the direction opposite your pivot foot. Try it yourself and see if you don't agree.
To me, this is another valid reason (not that one is needed after the Jim Evans post in the locked thread) for calling a balk on this. I was surprised that nobody brought this up in the previous thread. JMO.
Pete Booth is also correct that having umpires make opposite rulings under the identical set of circumstances does drive coaches crazy.
JM
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