Balks, Pickoffs, Pitcher Footwork, Etc.

[thepainguy]

I'm a new manager/coach for a team of 9/10 year olds. We play in a league in St. Louis that plays pretty much by major league rules. I'm new to the intricacies of baseball and would appreciate any help or opinions with respect to balks, pickoffs, pitcher footwork, and such.

I am trying to figure out how to coach my (all RH) pitchers on pickoff moves and have some confusion about what is the best thing to teach them. I want to teach them a move that is both legal and effective.

One point of confusion that I have is that the way I read the official rules of baseball, the only way to disengage the rubber from the set (aka stretch) position is to step backwards off the rubber with your pivot foot. As a result, the move I have been teaching my guys is to step backwards off the rubber with their pivot foot and land with the toes of the pivot foot facing home and the heel of the pivot foot facing second. They then pick up their front foot and swing it around, step, and plant it with their toes pointing to first. I believe this is a legal pickoff move given the way I read the rules. I also like it because it ensures that their shoulders and hips point to the target when they throw.

However, when I went to a Cardinals game the other day, I saw that the major league RH pitchers used a much simpler (and faster) move that looks illegal, given the way I read the rules of MLB. When set, they would pivot on the heel of their pivot foot and leave the heel in place and swing the toes of their pivot foot around so that they faced home plate (rather than third). They would then step with their left foot toward first and throw.

Is the major league move legal? Is it what I should be teaching my guys? Is the pitcher who does this considered to still be in contact with the rubber if they do this (which is why it is legal)?

It sure is simpler and faster.

Any help or insight would be appreciated.

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by thepainguy
I'm a new manager/coach for a team of 9/10 year olds. We play in a league in St. Louis that plays pretty much by major league rules. I'm new to the intricacies of baseball and would appreciate any help or opinions with respect to balks, pickoffs, pitcher footwork, and such.

I am trying to figure out how to coach my (all RH) pitchers on pickoff moves and have some confusion about what is the best thing to teach them. I want to teach them a move that is both legal and effective.

One point of confusion that I have is that the way I read the official rules of baseball, the only way to disengage the rubber from the set (aka stretch) position is to step backwards off the rubber with your pivot foot. As a result, the move I have been teaching my guys is to step backwards off the rubber with their pivot foot and land with the toes of the pivot foot facing home and the heel of the pivot foot facing second. They then pick up their front foot and swing it around, step, and plant it with their toes pointing to first. I believe this is a legal pickoff move given the way I read the rules. I also like it because it ensures that their shoulders and hips point to the target when they throw.

However, when I went to a Cardinals game the other day, I saw that the major league RH pitchers used a much simpler (and faster) move that looks illegal, given the way I read the rules of MLB. When set, they would pivot on the heel of their pivot foot and leave the heel in place and swing the toes of their pivot foot around so that they faced home plate (rather than third). They would then step with their left foot toward first and throw.

Is the major league move legal? Is it what I should be teaching my guys? Is the pitcher who does this considered to still be in contact with the rubber if they do this (which is why it is legal)?

It sure is simpler and faster.

Any help or insight would be appreciated.

Yes the move is legal, and yes it's a throw from the rubber (the move you are teaching is a throw from off the rubber).

I'll leave it to coaches to decide which is "better."

[thumpferee]

Might I suggest finding a knowledgeable, experienced and respected official in your area and ask him/her to come to one of your practices and conduct a 20 minute clinic for your pitchers!

Coaches, baserunners and fielders will also benefit greatly from this!

[UmpJM]

thepainguy,

Welcome to a whole new level of coaching youth baseball! You've got a lot to learn and a lot to teach. I know because I was in pretty much the same position you are in about five years ago. And I know I'm still learning.

In the leagues I coach in, base stealing with lead-offs, as well as balk enforcement, is introduced at the 11 yr. old level. Some leagues don't introduce these until the players are 13 yrs. old, while in other leagues I have heard of them being introduced with players as young as 7 & 8 yrs. old. In my experience, it doesn't really matter what age the players are introduced to these aspects of "real baseball" - they will generally struggle a bit early in the season and then adjust to some degree of competence somewhere around halfway through the season.

On to your questions. There are a number of different schools of thought on what is "the best" thing to teach young RHP pitchers in regard to making pick-off throws to 1B.

One school of thought says that a RHP should be taught to "disengage" the rubber before attempting to throw to 1B. There are a couple of different rationales for this. One is that it is very unlikely that the pitcher will be balked while doing this. Another is that, by disengaging, the pitcher has the option of feinting a throw to 1B rather than being required to actually make the throw.

Unfortunately, I fear that the most common reason the "disengage" is taught as the "preferred" move for a RHP going to 1B is that a lot of coaches "know" that it's ILLEGAL for a RHP to throw a pickoff to 1B "from the rubber". They are dead wrong, but this does nothing to weaken their conviction. Further compounding the misfortune is the fact that some of the umpires who officiate at this level are also possessed of this "common knowledge". Unless my experience is completely atypical, you are sure to run into at least one of these umpires during a game in which you are coaching.

(In my experience, it is virtually impossible to disabuse an umpire of this mistaken belief during the course of a game. Therefore, in addition to balks, you should also thoroughly educate yourself about protests. But, I digress.)

So the "disengage" is legal and should be taught. Personally, I don't think it's the "best" for two primary reasons:

1. You will never pick a runner off with this move (unless he's totally clueless or exceptionally) slow). You won't even be able to cut down on the size of the lead-off of a good runner if this is the pitcher's only move.

2. In the event that your pitcher should throw the ball out of play (a not uncommon occurrence at this age) after having disengaged, the runner will be awarded two bases rather than the one he would be awarded if your pitcher either threw the ball out of play "from the rubber" OR balked in throwing from the rubber.

Personally, I believe the "best" move for pitchers of this age is the "pivot and step" move you saw during the MLB game you attended. This move is perfectly legal under MLB (aka OBR) rules. Reference:

"8.01...(b) The Set Position. Set Position shall be indicated by the pitcher when he stands facing the batter with his entire pivot foot on, or in front of, and in contact with, and not off the end of the pitcher's plate, and his other foot in front of the pitcher's plate, holding the ball in both hands in front of his body and coming to a complete stop. From such Set Position he may deliver the ball to the batter, throw to a base or step backward off the pitcher's plate with his pivot foot.

"...(c) At any time during the pitcher's preliminary movements and until his natural pitching motion commits him to the pitch, he may throw to any base provided he steps directly toward such base before making the throw. The pitcher shall step "ahead of the throw." A snap throw followed by the step directly toward the base is a balk."

Also, there is nothing in rule 8.05 that prohibits this. I'm a little puzzled about what you were reading in the MLB rules that led you to think this was a balk.

Althought it is perfectly legal for a RHP to throw to 1B from the rubber (as long as he does so properly), it is also very easy for a RHP to commit a balk when attempting to throw to 1B from the rubber.

The most common reason that a RHP is (properly) "balked" when throwing to 1B is for his failure to "...step(s) directly toward such base before making the throw...." .

Let me try to explain.

You've probably seen a LHP lift his non-pivot foot up and lift his knee, just as if he were about to deliver a pitch to the batter, and then, just before shifting his body momentum towards home to deliver the pitch, step towards 1B and throw to first. This is perfectly legal for a LHP (assuming his "free foot" didn't cross the back plane of the rubber).

However, once a RHP has lifted his "non-pivot" knee to any significant degree, he can no longer step directly towards 1B. It's virtually physically impossible to lift that knee of the "non-pivot" leg without moving the foot in the direction of 3B (try it yourself, and you'll see what I mean). Since he's "started" to step towards 3B, he can no longer step "directly" towards 1B. This would be a balk under 8.05(c).

For a RHP to throw legally, he must almost do a "slide step" (i.e. free foot "low to the ground") towards 1B as the first move of the pickoff.

He could also be balked on this move if he "hesitates" during its execution, fails to complete the throw, or throws to F3 who is nowhere in the vicinity of 1B (as well as a number of other ways). But it's really not that difficult to do it properly.

Also, you mentioned that you saw the MLB pitcher pivot off the heel of his pivot foot in executing this move. I'm a liitle skeptical. It is much more natural and effective for the pitcher to pivot off the "ball" of his pivot foot, and this is perfectly legal.

I think this is the "best" move for a young RHP because:

1. It is not terribly difficult to do properly.

2. You will occasionally pick-off an opposing runner (especially if his coach has taught him this move is illegal) and you will usually cut the lead-off of opposing runners. As you said, it's simpler and faster than disengaging.

3. If your pitcher does balk or throw the ball out of play the runner ends up on 2B. At this level he's going to end up there more often than not anyway (on a steal), so what's the harm.

This move is most effective when used in combination with the disengage move. That is, use the disengage move first to "lull" the runner; and then follow with the "good" pivot and step move. It's particularly effective if initiated after the pitcher has looked away from the runner and the instant before his hands come together in going from "stretch" to "set".

Potentially even more effective moves are the "jab step" and "jump spin" moves commonly used by RH MLB pitchers in pick-offs to 1B. But, in my experience, these moves are significantly more difficult for the youngsters to learn how to do properly and have an accurate throw. (Both are also considered moves "from the rubber".) I will introduce the "jab step" move to my better pitchers, but it is typically quite a while before this move is "game ready".

So, that's my opinion. I would wholeheartedly endorse thumpferee's suggestion to get a good official to come help you at practice. The best way for the pitchers to learn is to try their moves and have a knowlegeable ump tell them when they are and are not balking.

Also, another subject I'd spend some time learning and teaching my players is all the nuances of the "third strike not caught" rule, assuming that rule is also in effect for your league.

Good luck.

JM

[Edited by CoachJM on Apr 26th, 2005 at 05:01 PM]

[thepainguy]

Thanks to all who have replied. This does make things clearer.

Some replies to specific comments...

1. IMHO 9-10 is too young to start introducing stealing. My guys still have too much to work on (e.g. pitching consistently). As a result, in this league we are at the point where a single is effectively a triple (which is why I posted here and what I am trying to deal with).

2. From what I could tell, the pro pivoted on his heel. If he pivoted in the ball of his foot, his heel would have ended up on top of the robber. This wasn't the case. His entire pivot foot was on dirt. Maybe he jump turned (very slightly)?

3. My comment about the legality of the spin move comes from MLB ROB 8.01(b)...

"The Set Position. Set Position shall be indicated by the pitcher when he stands facing the batter with his entire pivot foot on, or in front of, and in contact with, and not off the end of the pitcher's plate, and his other foot in front of the pitcher's plate, holding the ball in both hands in front of his body and coming to a complete stop."

It's the line "with his entire pivot foot on, or in front of, and in contact with" that made me wonder if this is a legal move. If the "entire" side of the foot is no longer in contact with the rubber, then hasn't the pitcher effectively disengaged the rubber? Isn't the only way the pitcher can disengage the rubber by stepping back? Therefore, isn't this move illegal?

Of course, this may be a rule that can't be practically enforced because it may be hard to see whether the pitcher is in contact with the rubber. Maybe over the years an inch of wiggle room has morphed into six inches of wiggle room.

[thepainguy]

One thing that strikes me as I reread the rules regarding the foot position of the pitcher is that they seem to have been written before the era of spikes and cleats (and seem to need to be updated).

For example, if you were pitching wearing sneakers, then it would be easy to pitch from on top of the rubber and, when throwing to first, pivot on the area under the arch of your foot before stepping and throwing to first base.

However, this doesn't work at all if you are wearing spikes or cleats. For one thing, there's no way that you can pitch from on top of the rubber and keep your balance while wearing spikes or cleats. Instead, you have to pitch with your pivot foot in front of the rubber. However, that means that there is no way that you can turn and step and throw to first, while keeping the width of your foot in touch with the rubber, without tearing up your right knee, pulling your groin, or both unless you were a ballerina (because after throwing your feet would end up pointing in opposite directions). As a result, the rule seems to be interpreted as meaning that, to stay engaged with the rubber, you have to keep a portion of your foot touching the rubber. Of course, I don't know how a jump and spin could be legal since your foot would momentarily lose contact with the rubber.

If you take the interpretation that the rule means that a portion of the pitcher's foot must stay in contact with the rubber to stay engaged, then would it be a legal move if, as part of your normal motion or pickoff move, you lift your left knee up while pointing your foot down and either go to the plate or lift up your right heel and spin on the ball of your pivot foot by throwing your shoulders around and then step and throw toward second. This move would seem to be legal and would defeat baserunners who followed the rule of thumb that they should go back when the right knee cracks and go when the left knee cracks.

[UmpJM]

painguy,

I'm starting to understand your choice of username....

I applaud the fact that you are actually bothering to read the rules. This is important. In many cases, they're a little complicated. Also, in many cases they are ambiguous, occasionally they are contradictory, and they don't always mean what they literally say. Although I'm a coach, this I am not making up.

First, nobody (other than little kids who are learning and haven't yet been taught properly) actually pitches with their foot on the pitcher's plate. Most pitchers pitching from the windup start with (at least) their pivot foot on the rubber and then, as they take the "rocker step", shifting their weight on to their "free" foot, "pivot" their pivot foot from "toes to home" to "toes to 3B" (RHP) as they step immediately in front of the rubber into the slight "trench" that is there (or the "deep hole" found on many youth diamond mounds). Although this "step" with the pivot foot might seem illegal by a "literal" read of the rules ("...He shall not raise either foot from the ground, except that in his actual delivery of the ball to the batter, he may take one step backward, and one step forward with his free foot. ..."), as long as the pitcher is merely "clearing his cleats" to pivot, it's fine. That's how its done.

Now, when pitching from the "Set" position, everyone starts with their pivot foot "...in front of, and (at least close to) in contact with..." the rubber.
While it is a requirement that the pitcher initiates his pitch thus, there is no requirement that he keep that foot motionless as he completes his delivery of a pitch or pickoff. As long as some portion of the pivot foot remains in contact with the ground until he "lands" his free foot, he's fine. He's allowed to "pivot" on his pivot foot, even if that foot completely loses contact with the rubber - as long as he started from a legal position and doesn't completely lift his pivot foot from the ground prior to landing his free foot.

Unless, of course, he is employing a "jab step" or "jump spin" move in a pickoff. Then he is allowed to completely lift his pivot foot from the ground after assuming a legal "Set" position, as long as his "free foot" gains "distance and direction" towards the base he is making a move towards. Why??? I honestly don't know why this is legal. But it is.

Of course, the pitcher is also allowed to lift his pivot foot and move it behind (i.e. to the 2B side) the rubber if he wants to "disengage".

If I have misspoken in any of the above comments, I am sure that the knowledgeable and helpful umpires on this board will correct my errors.

In closing, I really do applaud the fact that you actually seem to be reading the rules. What you have to realize though, is that that is only the starting point of beginning to understand them. If you read the rules and are not confused, then you really didn't read them very carefully.

Good luck.

JM