Quote:
Originally posted by shaka
Did he immediately drop his hands to his sides?
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I saw this spot on ESPN also.
Not that the pitcher is required to drop his hands, but his hand motion was consistent with a "wind-up". His foot
did disengage the rubber, but while doing so, his hands were continuing with the typical wind-up motion that he typically uses for his normal delivery. I think that could constitute making a pitching motion while disengaged from the rubber ... which would be a balk.
Such a motion is patently unfair to the batter who could now be liable for batter's interference should he swing or hit the thrown ball. How is the batter to notice the subtle movement of the foot disengaging the rubber when EVERY other aspect of the pitcher's motion resembles his normal delivery?
Imagine if the batter had two strikes. He could hardly GUESS as to the status of the delivery. Is it a pitch or an attempted play?
I think it was a balk.
I once called the following a balk during a high school varsity game. With runners at 1st and 3rd, the pitcher assumed the windup position. After being reminded by his infielders to pitch from the stretch, the pitcher responded, "Ah, he's going to steal anyway." This was all a ruse that this team had apparently done before.
As the pitcher brought his hands up to begin his windup, R1 took off immediately. But, instead of taking a rocker step back with his FREE foot, the pitcher stepped back with his PIVOT foot. He then aborted his delivery and attempted to make a play on R1.
I immediately called it a balk to which the pitcher (and his coach) quickly pointed out that he had STEPPED OFF.
Yes he did, but he used a pitching motion as a means of stepping off. Highly deceptive and completely unfair to the offense.
Balk!
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Jul 22nd, 2005 at 03:08 AM]