To stop or not to stop?

[Thane Yennie]

At the risk of being hammered by my colleagues I will pose this question. RHP - as he closes to set position from stretch, his hands just come together and he turns and fires to first base. Is this not "deceiving" the runner? I know Carl, I need to quit thinkin' so much. : )
As i stated earlier we haven't started ball here in wyo yet but I want to have my arguments ready for those coaches/mgrs who view this as a balk. Thanks

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by Thane Yennie
At the risk of being hammered by my colleagues I will pose this question. RHP - as he closes to set position from stretch, his hands just come together and he turns and fires to first base. Is this not "deceiving" the runner? I know Carl, I need to quit thinkin' so much. : )
As i stated earlier we haven't started ball here in wyo yet but I want to have my arguments ready for those coaches/mgrs who view this as a balk. Thanks

Thane,

Take a look at 8.05(m). It says quite clearly that the it is a balk if the pitcher delivers the pitch without coming to a stop.

Throwing to a base without coming to a stop is perfect legal and allowable.

[GarthB]

Let me just add to Jim's post a little:

Yeah, to most runners, especially those who do not know the rules, that move is probably deceiving. However it is a LEGAL deception. Deceptive balks are those involving ILLEGAL deception.

Deception, in and of itself, does not constitute a balk.

Garth.

[Rich]

Since he has not yet attained the set position (he is still in the preliminary motion known as "the stretch"), he can do just about anything he wants: Throw to a base, disengage the rubber legally, fake to any base except first.

He doesn't have to stop (come set) unless he is going to pitch.

Rich

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by Thane Yennie
At the risk of being hammered by my colleagues I will pose this question. RHP - as he closes to set position from stretch, his hands just come together and he turns and fires to first base. Is this not "deceiving" the runner? I know Carl, I need to quit thinkin' so much. : )
As i stated earlier we haven't started ball here in wyo yet but I want to have my arguments ready for those coaches/mgrs who view this as a balk. Thanks

Thane,

This might look like a staff writer's procession, answering your question one after the other like this. I too have a point to offer, by way of giving you the support you need.

Any coach who talks about "deception" as though it is the be-all and end-all of balks doesn't really understand the intent of the balk rule. As Garth has pointed out, it's not "deception" by itself that's the problem. Heck, that's the pitcher's JOB after all! Otherwise he would never pick a runner off, and seldom earn a strike call. It is only "deception" that results from an illegal act that causes the umpire to call a balk.

The two salient quotations for your arsenal are as follows:

"Umpires should bear in mind that the purpose of the balk rule is to prevent the pitcher from deliberately deceiving the runner ..." [OBR 8.05 End Note] ... by ...
"...an illegal act ... with a runner or runners on base..." [OBR 2.00 Definition of A Balk].

The two passages taken together give a full and complete definition of a balk:

"A Balk is an illegal act by the pitcher, that is intended to deliberately deceive the runner with a runner or runners on base, entitling all runners to advance one base."

Coaches and others who discover the End Note to the balk rule, and the rule maker's expressed intent to prevent deliberate deception by the pitcher, seldom put that together with the OBR definition of a Balk. That's their biggest mistake.

Cheers,

[Edited by Warren Willson on Mar 10th, 2001 at 08:52 PM]

[Carl Childress]

Originally posted by Thane Yennie
At the risk of being hammered by my colleagues I will pose this question. RHP - as he closes to set position from stretch, his hands just come together and he turns and fires to first base. Is this not "deceiving" the runner? I know Carl, I need to quit thinkin' so much. : )

Thane:

Even in Wyoming it ain't a balk!

Quit thinkin' so much. Instead, go down in the basement to your son's room and break off all the icicles on his poster of Cal Ripkin.

[Thane Yennie]

Thanks guys. I know it isn't a balk but there are "others" who have a problem with it. Carl you know who I mean. As for the icicles in my son's room, hey it is actually getting warmer here. I think it made it to 42 degrees today.