Balk?
 

2 outs. R1 at second, R2 at first. Right handed pitcher.

Pitcher comes set and R2 takes off for third. Pitcher raises left leg and steps towards third as a normal pickoff move. During this, R2 stops midway and pitcher fakes the throw to third but DOES NOT disengage the rubber with his right foot. So he looks a little silly with a step towards third with the back foot still on rubber.

Coach flipped and was dancing around yelling balk. I did not call a balk because the runner left before the pitcher started to home and he legally made a move to third base AS A FIELDER. I read a post on this forum stating this scenario does not warrant "throw to unoccupied base is illegal" because the pitcher has the right to make a play on the runner. ( the post was within the last 4 months but it may have been deleted or archived).

Was it a balk or not? R1 ended up getting tagged out, inning over.

OBR: He is NOT a fielder as you described because he did not disengage first. Balk. Cannot feint to 3B.

"Cannot feint to 3B."

I have seen pitchers do an inside spin move to occupied second base for a pickoff and not throw and remain on the rubber because of the spinning motion, would this also constitute a balk?

No. Under OBR you can feint to second from the rubber. You can't feint to third or first.

Under OBR, the OP is a balk -- possibly an "unintended consequence" of the rule change.

The OP is legal under FED.

If you cant feint to 3B or 1B, then how does the ol fake to third throw to first work? You have to fake the throw to 3B initially?

That move is no longer allowed under OBR (for several years now).

It was changed prior to the 2013 season and was largely pegged as an attempted to reduce the length of games/increase the pace of play.

Regarding the OP, the pitcher could have completed his throw to 3rd (instead of faking), and as you stated there wouldn't have been a penalty for throwing to an unoccupied base because he was attempting to make a play (the exception to the unoccupied base rule). The other way to defend this is to have the pitcher disengage the pitcher's plate prior to making a play on the runner.

I felt like the worst dad in the world when my 13 year old got called for a balk this spring because I hadn't coached him on how to handle a very similar situation (neither had his coach, but that's a different story). With runners on the corners, my son came set and the runner from 1st took off toward 2nd at a fast jog. My son being left-handed saw this unfolding and lifted his stride foot and turned his shoulders toward the runner. I could tell he knew he had messed up from the look on his face, but he tried to cover it by making it look like he was coming set (which he couldn't really do because he was already set, although sadly, the umpires let him throw a pitch in spite of the delay between the actual balk and when he threw the pitch). I'm betting the play was designed to draw a balk, and if not draw a throw to allow the runner from 3rd to score. Had my son properly disengaged the pitcher's plate and ran toward the runner, the offense would have had a more difficult time scoring that runner from 3rd. I'm even willing to bet the runner from 3rd would have taken off for home on a good solid fake from my son.

The point of this whole story is that a pitcher in the set position prior to starting the throwing motion almost always benefits from disengaging prior to making a play on a runner that has left before said motion starts because there are no restrictions on him at that point. He can run at the runner, fake a throw or throw to any fielder anywhere on the field.

Fed = Legal
OBR = Balk