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Long night at the ballpark.
WARNING: What you are about to read is a tale of an experienced umpire who had a serious brain fart. Don't try this at home.
After a comedy of errors, we arrive at the top of the 8th inning. (FED ball, by the way.) Terrible game, but generally uneventful. R1 & R3, 1 out. Pitcher fakes a pick-off to first, I call a balk. The coach insists that he stepped off, so I asked my partner, who evidently saw the step off. (As I replay that moment in my mind, I still don't see it, but anyway...) Needless to say, $hitstorm ensues. In light of the game situation, and knowing full well that neither side was going to be pleased, I cancelled the balk and placed the runners back on first and third. I'll spare you the gruesome details of what followed, but it did involve an assistant coach and a bus. Here's my question:
Given that situation, is this a correctable gross miss? I know by the letter of the law, once a balk is called, it's a balk; but is there any wiggle room in a case like this? I welcome your wisdom and the obligatory flame or two.
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