Balk

[UmpJM]

BFair & Macaroo,

I only noticed the pitcher doing this with runners at 2B, 3B, or both. It seemed to me that he was doing it intentionally to "freeze" the runners. I say this because I don't believe he did this with only an R1 (couldn't swear to it). In that situation he employed a fairly quick "slide step" delivery to the plate.

One of the first things I said to the umpire after requesting time was that it looked to me like the pitcher was coming to a complete stop during his delivery. I'm pretty sure that he agreed he was (as did his coach), he just didn't think it was a balk.

I did end up just "dropping it". The pitcher never made a pick-off throw to 3B or 2B, so it really wasn't a big deal. It just seemed to me that he was not being properly taught and the umpires did not recognize what seemed to me to be an obvious balk.

JM