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Originally Posted by UMP25
While not commenting on the specific play at hand, I think you ought to discard this idea of "deceptive to the base runner," because pitchers are allowed to deceive baserunners. They do it all the time. They just can't illegally deceive them.
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Exactly. Deception alone is not sufficient to warrant a balk on the jab step.
HOWEVER: The OBR balk rule (iirc) provides some basic principles for calling balks. It also explicitly acknowledges that there will be borderline cases.
In borderline cases, where there is some doubt as to whether the pitcher has balked, the instruction is to evaluate whether the pitcher intended to deceive the runner. If so, balk; if not, let it go.
STILL: A properly performed jab step looks very similar to a jump step, which all seem to agree is legal. I accept the following reasoning:
1. Pro instruction is that the jab step is NOT a balk.
2. Though one reading of FED rules might have the jab step a balk, FED does not explicitly (for instance, in a casebook play) rule the jab step a balk.
3. In the absence of a FED ruling/interp specifically addressing this issue, I will go with pro instruction.
As I gaze into my crystal ball: FED will address this issue explicitly and issue an interp in the coming year that falls in line with MLB and NCAA regarding the jab step.