Quote:
Originally posted by jicecone
Quote:
Originally posted by bossman72
Had this in my game the other day:
Pitcher tries the old "third to first" pickoff move in the third inning and does it legally by stepping to third, then removing his pivot foot from the rubber, then making a move to first.
Later in the game, he tries it again, but he doesn't remove his pivot foot from the rubber. I call balk. Coach goes nuts. He wants a rule reference on why this is a balk, and i couldn't recite an exact rule (OBR) but i said he must disengage before making his move to first.
So help me out guys. What rule is he breaking when he does not remove his foot from the rubber?
|
Rule 8.05c Comment 2.
Now, don't get offensive about this but, how do you know it's a balk, if you don't have a Rule book? And the reason I ask is because, it took approximately 15 seconds to look it up. Just wondering.
David, you kiddig right?
There is no way it can be done, but you called a balk when it was done?
I have seen it done in a HS game and had to correct my partner when he called a balk. And I didn't ask, "if there was something he wanted to ask me about his call" either.
We had partnered long enough in HS and OBR baseball, that I knew he just made a mistake and WE, corrected it.
|
I didn't say I've called this move a balk BECAUSE the pitcher failed to break contact ... I have called it a balk because the pitcher executed the maneuver in one continuous fashion, just as the rulebook instructs us not to allow.
A classic violation is when the pitcher steps with his left foot toward 3rd and then spins around on his LEFT foot toward 1st. To execute this maneuver the pitcher will certainly break contact with the rubber -YET- it's a balk!
It's a balk because the maneuver is executed in one continuous fashion.
OK ... OK ... I guess it's
possible not to break contact with the rubber when executing this maneuver, but to do so, it would look so incredibly bizarre that there would be little reason not to call it a balk.
The REASON this maneuver should be called a balk should MOSTLY involve whether the maneuver was continuous from 3rd to 1st. If so ... it's a balk; whether or not his pivot foot ever broke contact with the rubber.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN