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Originally Posted by jwwashburn
I have wondered when this changed....I do not think the rule has changed(at least not much) but, the enforcement sure has changed.
Saw some World Series game from the Late 60's and from 1975 not too long ago on ESPN Classic and many of those pitchers did not even pretend to stop...My guess is it changed right around when Lou Brock broke the Stolen Base record?
There is no way anyone was stealing 100+ bases with the way those guys were quick pitching.
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It changed in the 80s when they added the word "discernible" for one season and the umpires called a TON of balks. The players union, I believe, never approved the word discernible and it was removed the next season.
No More 'Discernible' Stop, So Balks Will Be Balks Again - Los Angeles Times
Once the word discernible disappeared, the pitchers still seemed to stop a lot better than they did prior to this change.