[BoomerSooner]

I think he's just looking for clarification on what it would look like in the real world when an illegal pitch is thrown (or as many fans might say, a balk occurs with nobody on base).

If that is accurate, then what should happen is: the play would be allowed to continue as the batter still has the opportunity to hit an illegal pitch and if the batter reaches first base the illegal pitch is ignored. Otherwise, the illegal pitch is called and a ball is added to the count regardless of the actual outcome of the play (i.e. the batter can ground out, take a strike, hit a foul ball, etc and that action is disregarded).

To further clarify your question, the umpire shouldn't be calling a balk in this case as "balk" is the term for wider range of infractions that occur with runners on base. Those infractions include committing an illegal pitch, as well as changing from the windup to the set position without disengaging the rubber, failing to come to a complete stop when coming set, making a "snap throw" to a base without stepping toward it, etc.

You don't see many illegal pitches at the MLB level and while technically a pause during the pitch violates the requirement to "pitch without interruption" once the natural motion associated with pitching has started, there typically isn't that much scrutiny of this type of situation as long as the pause is part of the pitcher's typical motion, is consistent from pitch to pitch and isn't overly obvious. An "ever so slight pause" probably isn't go to draw the ire of many umpires, coaches or players at that level with nobody on base.