balk!

[TBBlue]

I balked a kid in OBR game for throwing to second with no step at all. He twisted his body and snapped a sidearm throw to the bag. Neither foot moved. Was this correct?

[largeone59]

Originally posted by TBBlue
I balked a kid in OBR game for throwing to second with no step at all. He twisted his body and snapped a sidearm throw to the bag. Neither foot moved. Was this correct?

Sounds like it. Good call.

[akalsey]

I balked a kid in OBR game for throwing to second with no step at all. He twisted his body and snapped a sidearm throw to the bag. Neither foot moved.

Poor child was born without a spine. That's gotta be rough.

[Dave Hensley]

Originally posted by tiger49
I balked it because the step was directed at the 2nd baseman more than 2nd. I guess you could say it wasn't a balk to second but a balk to the 2nd baseman.

Professional instruction is that if the pitcher steps more towards the base being thrown or feinted to than any other base, then he has fulfilled the requirement for stepping "directly to" the base. In a feint or throw to 2B, he has a 90 foot window that goes from the midway point between 2B and 3B, to the midway point between 2B and 1B, and if he steps and feints or throws within that window, then he's legal.

Neither FED nor NCAA have a rule or an interpretation that would contradict this professional instruction.

[Mike Ricketts]

Originally posted by Tim C
Dave Hensley . . . nah David, I have already defended IIITBTSB for seven years.

I will now no longer participate in threads about the issue.

It Is Impossible To Balk To Second Base, period.

Who was it who said the way out of Vietnam was to declare victory and withdraw our troops?

[ChapJim]

Who was it who said the way out of Vietnam was to declare victory and withdraw our troops?

Some idiot.

[UmpJM]

Originally posted by Dave Hensley

I think that translates, roughly, to "yes, OK, fine, that would be a balk to second base."

A feint or throw to attempt to pickoff an R2, without the required step ahead of the feint/throw, would, in the commonly accepted jargon of the game, constitute a "balk to second base."

IIITBTSB is a useful training maxim to rein in the "Balkin' Bob" wannabes. It doesn't need to be completely and totally accurate to fulfill its purpose.

Dave,

That's kind of how I took it too. But, I didn't want to get "tossed" for trying to "show up the umpire", so I just dropped it and "returned to my dugout".

At the risk of justifiably being accused of attempting to "resurrect a dead horse", not to mention "irresponsible use of a scarce resource", since it has come up on another thread, I'm going to make one more comment on this subject.

Having thought about it a little more, I just wanted to say the following.

In the final analysis, I believe that your comments regarding "IIITBTSB" are more intelligent than either mine or Tim's.

That is, a proper understanding of what really is or is not a balk is all that really matters. If it helps one individual to have the proper conception of what constitutes a balk to consider "IIITBTSB" an absolute assertion and helps another individual to consider it a nearly absolute assertion, then the end is properly served in both cases.

From everything I've read that Tim has written on the subject, his conception seems quite sound. Though I've never actually seen him umpire a game, it would not surprise me if his proved to be more sound than my own.

Respectfully,

JM

[Tim C]

Trust me JM I make my mistakes in my games (I also make Dave's, Rich's, Garth's, you get the drift).

I work hard at umpiring. I work hard at understanding the intent of rules. I work hard at training umpires.

As a last commnet, I have never seen a balk to second base.

Regards,

[LMan]

wow, post a wee little note on another game and look what happens!