[Forest Ump]

A friend of mine who is a volunteer umpire in a local rec league was working base in a tournament U12 game this weekend. He told me that the UIC called a balk because the catcher set up off of the plate to receive a pitch. Apparently quite a ways off and he thought it was outside of the catcher’s box. I have seen the ankle biters do this. I don't know why they do it, poor coaching I suppose. He apparently warned the catcher first and then called it. I told my friend that this is really reaching for the dirty end of the stick.

I looked up the rule 8.05 (l), and it says that this is only a balk when giving an intentional base on balls. So in actuality this could never be a balk because this was not an IBOB.

It did get me to thinking more about this. If a catcher was receiving a pitch on a IBOB, would he have to be completely out of the catcher’s box, or just have one foot out to balk. It's most likely in my J/R but I don't have it right now. BTW, I catagorize this as one of those balks that you shouldn't call. I warn the catcher to not step out too quickly. Why grab the dirty end of the stick.