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Originally Posted by UMP25
Under OBR, "astride" is interpreted as not to mean just "straddling" the rubber but on the mound near the rubber; however, just how much a pitcher is permitted to be "on" the mound seems to be up to each individual umpire, unfortunately. J/R explains that it's not necessarily a balk if the pitcher is on the dirt. From what Jim Evans once said, and what Jaksa and Roder themselves once said at umpire school, if the pitcher is near the rubber a balk can be justified; otherwise it's a legal deception by the pitcher.
Completely unambiguous, isn't this?  |
There is nothing in the JEA that says anything to the effect that "close enough" is a balk. I don't have his balk video though and he may have it there.
J/R says "on or astride" is a balk, followed by the sentence you used (paraphrased) "it's not necessarily a balk if the pitcher is on the dirt".
The BRD only lists "on or astride".
Absent any "close enough" documentation, I can't see anything but "on or astride" being a balk.