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My fields must be configured wrong. The fields I work don't have any bases in center field at all... so I'm having trouble imagining an unoccupied base out there.
Rule: It is a balk when... "8.05(d) The pitcher, while touching his plate, throws, or feints a throw to an unoccupied base, except for the purpose of making a play."
Note the actual words used in the rule. It says you cannot throw to an unoccupied base.
From Matthew F: "does a lob to the outfield constitute a balk since the pitcher is obviously not throwing to an occupied base?"
The rule does NOT say you have to throw to an occupied base. There is a difference. You cannot throw to an unoccupied base. A throw (rainbow or bullet or otherwise) to F8 is not a throw to an unoccupied base.
[Edited by mcrowder on Jun 23rd, 2005 at 02:10 PM]
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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson
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