dead ball balk?

[GarthB]

Originally posted by DG
As already mentioned, there can be no balk until the ball is put in play. If the pitcher toes the rubber without the ball, and the PU points to him and says "play" and then R3 steps off 3b and is tagged, then a balk should be called.

But putting the ball in play require the pitcher to possess while toeing the rubber, right? So, the ball would still be dead when R3 is tagged. And you already said that ther can be no balk during a deadball.