Balk or Illegal Pitch

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by batterup
You umpire games according to the level of the game. "Gee" says he doesn't do Fed games but he brings up a situation you would see in high school.

Gee lives in Massachusetts, I live in Rhode Island. Both of our states use the Official Baseball Rules for high school baseball. If you mentioned the Federation around here, you'd quickly be given directions to the nearest Trekker Convention.

Originally posted by batterup
It is a ball when not on the rubber and in the dirt area when you lick your fingers. It is a balk on the rubber, not because the rules prohibit licking your fingers on the rubber but because you can't make those kind of stupid moves, (known as feinting or deceiving the runner), while you are on the rubber.

Well, not quite, batterup. If the pitcher is in contact with the rubber and goes to his mouth, it is called a ball whether there are runners on base or not. If, however, the pitcher is in the set position and he goes to his mouth, you may very well have a balk for some other reason, like separating the hands and not delivering or throwing to a base, as in 8.05(j).

That may be what you were trying to say, but I figured I'd clear it up a bit.