Balk or bad mechanics?

[BigUmp56]

Is the Evans balk video available for purchase on-line?

That resource should help PWL get a better understanding of how to see and call a balk.


Tim.

[BigUmp56]

You must be forgetting that you illegally converted the file to a word doc. and sent it to me, Walter.

Don't you have your own web-site to run into the ground?



Tim.

[gotblue?]

He's baaaaaaaaaaaackk!

[GarthB]

Originally posted by PWL

You wouldn't know what funny was if it hit you in the cup.

I don't mean to get in the line of fire in your pi$$ing contest, but I have to correct you.

I've enjoyed dinner with Tee in Portland, and I can tell you, he's an effin' laugh riot.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally posted by PWL

I guess this is route I'll have to take.

I was really looking forward to the balk clinic you and your "good buddy" WJR were going to give.

What's harder to find than a needle in a haystack?

A spot on Tee's butt BigUmp56 hasn't kissed.

Hey, you know something? Tim was really trying to help you. He wasn't insulting you. That is all anyone ever tried to do was help you learn how to umpire better. Please don't say that you don't need the help, because based on certain things you say, it is glaringly obvious that you do. Nobody is putting you down (well, maybe some are, but Tim wasn't), so take the chip down off your shoulder.

[GarthB]

PWL:

You have stooped to the level of John Hastings, AKA WJR. You must be so proud to be in that company. Trust me, it will be remembered by many.

[BigUmp56]

Originally posted by PWL

I guess this is route I'll have to take.

I was really looking forward to the balk clinic you and your "good buddy" WJR were going to give.

What's harder to find than a needle in a haystack?

A spot on Tee's butt BigUmp56 hasn't kissed. [/B]

I'm not sure why you felt the need to take a cheap shot at me. I wasn't insulting you in any way. We had the opportunity to watch the Evans balk video at an association meeting last year. I found it extremely helpful to me in calling balks last season. I just thought that if it was still available for purchase it might help you as well.

I made it very clear on OU that I disagreed with Walter on soliciting coaches to hold a balk clinic. If you'll remember correctly I stated the same opinion here for JJ and Windy who both hold clinics on balks for teams. However, neither of them solicit the work. While I don't agree with soliciting the work I do feel that if asked I would consider it an honor to do it myself.

The very idea of Walter Rucker trying to teach anyone anything about umpiring baseball is laughable. Especially the intricacies of calling balks.


Tim.

[BigUmp56]

At least you admitt to being a con artist, Walter. I'm sure that will bode well with your new "officials web-site for officiating officianatos." I'll bet they're lining up to pay you $10.00 a pop to take a test on-line writin by an idiot on Moodle.

I'm sure there are a multitude of officials that will trust you with their personal information after the stunts you've pulled, especially with the idea of documenting finacial information through your new scheduling software.

I can't wait to hear what the NCAA and the NFHS have to say about your ridiculous proposals. I wonder what kind of nonsense you were telling those "investors" you kept talking about, and what you'll tell them when you turn their investments south after you fail.

You're right though. We did make the mistake of trusting you to be true to your word. I say we because it was a concensus among 58 individuals to move to your forum from the Google group. Now you've made it painfully obvious to everyone else that you are not a man to be trusted. Your word is as useless as the idea that you could re-invent the wheel with your web-site.


Tim.

[SAump]

"First, I find it interesting when we have a thread that is only kept alive by ONE poster who thinks, honestly, that he is correct."

So let me be as clear as I possibly can: This thread, kept alive by ONE poster who thinks, honestly, that he is correct; has now grown by 3 pages in a single day.

I can honestly say, JMOHO, that any discussion about the length of the PAUSE that spreads over 3 pages a day doesn't need another one of MOHO.

[SAump]

"What will you call in this situation: A pitcher delivers like Valenzuela the whole game, then the NEXT PITCH he pitches one like Randy Johnson. Both were done legally for their respective styles. Are you calling a balk? Yes or no?"

As discussed by rule, I cannot call it a balk. My call at the MLB level would be to allow, on proper appeal, the OC to choose from the possible results of the play. I would likely call "No Pitch" repeatedly at NFHS level before the batter puts the ball in play. In this sitch, I would call time and inform the pitcher that he must, by rule, pitch to a single batter from either LH or RH side. I shall enforce my requirement that "His motion must be consistent throughout the game" despite the many educated protesters on this site.

I would not inform him that he is allowed to switch from LHP to RHP after the batter completes his time at-bet. Its not my job to inform him of the rules. I would hope that he finishes the inning without switching from LHP to RHP. I would also hope the pitcher is actually as ambidextrous as his coach thinks. I already knew about the pitch to pitch rule. It was I who originally quoted the RULEBOOK for all to see. As I stated previously, a pitcher is certainly LEGAL to switch after each inning because he has completed his after EACH AT BAT requirement.

I would also like to thank Tim and McCrowder for the RELATIVE clarifying info provided from the actual LHP to RHP. Perhaps my mechanics will now remain consistent. I hope its all TRUE. I have already argued switching bater-to-batter-to batter-...(37 times in 3 innings)...-boxes. The information they provided is very valuable for us-less-experienced. I just thought I had to pull teeth to get it. I don't like showboating from either side in a GAME. So stop teasing so much just to get a logical ^fastball^ comment!

[BigUmp56]

Originally posted by PWL
Listen. I don't need a balk video to know what a balk is. Besides, I have seen it before.

It's sad indeed that you feel you are above the learning curve. Even the most seasoned veterans continue to look to resources like the Evans video to improve their skills as umpires. Of course you don't need a video to help you. You don't even need a rule book to help you call games.

Originally posted by PWL
If you couldn't call a balk watching the end of that video, you could never do it in a game when it wasn't expected. Besides, all the balks shown in that video you are not likely to ever call. You will work many games before you will unless, the pitchers are very inept.

The idea behind using a resource like this is to better prepare you to recognize a balk you haven't seen on the diamond before and condition you to pull the trigger when necessary.

Originally posted by PWL
I don't know how many different or how many balks you called last year. I could care less.

I only called the ones I saw, but at least I was able to recognize them.

Originally posted by PWL
Besides when we have meetings and they talk about pitching and balks, they talk about him coming stop for the one second. That is the rule of thumb we try to go by.

So, it's your entire association that makes up their own rules. Do you use a stop watch to count that full second stop or do you just silently say "one Mississippi" to yourself to measure the time.


Tim.

[LMan]

Well, I usually look for ~ 1.3 to 1.6 second 'stops' in the set. That's what we usually go by, it is what works for us......don't need a video to tell me that .

[mick]

I'll go up to a too-much-in-a-hurry pitcher, use the word discernible, and slow him down for a full 3 innings while he is pondering what I just said.

[SAump]

Let's borrow from one of Einstein's Princeton University models. First imagine that you could shrink yourself to the size of several seams and attach yourself safely onto the baseball. Then you would like to know what it feels like to take a ride atop a baseball. The only argument I have read so far in your physical model of reality is that your mini-mi would be very dizzy after riding on a 70 mph (coasting) curveball because of all that spinning. By extending your argument, mini-mi wouldn't be as dizzy riding a 70 mph (coasting) fastball because it doesn't spin as fast in any of the eight primal directions as it does during a curveball. There is something definitely missing from your argument.

This model basically fails because it doesn't even consider the surface AIR pressure difference between 70 mph and 100 mph. Mini-mi would be subjected to crushing forces on the forward side of the baseball to almost no force on the back side of the baseball. But there is another side to this coin. Ever heard the differnce between a used batting practice baseball at 70 mph and 100 mph. That NOISE flutter you hear is almost entirely due to AIR PRESSURE along the SEAMS. Failing to consider warm humid sea-level AIR pressure effects on the SEAMS of a 100 mph baseball is about as appropriate as believing someone cannot throw a ^RISING^ fastball. I CANNOT let that go as quietly as the SOUND DIFFERENCE on the CATCHER"S MITT,

Now who can ramp that up to 135 mph, TOODLES?

[ump1955]

I saw five pages of guys exercising ego and insults without anyone bothering to help the rookie that asked the original question. Fine example for the rookies, guys!

Rulebook Page 40 Rule 6 Section 1, Article 1

...The position of his feet determine whether he will pitch from the windup or the set position........

Rulebook Page 41 Rule 6, Section 1, Article 3.

.........He shall go the set position without interruption and in one continous motion. He shall come to a complete and discernible stop (a change of direction is not considered an acceptable stop) with the abll in both hands in front of the body and his glove at or below his chin.

If I am mistaken feel free to correct me, but I believe he is saying that the pitcher stepped on the rubber with his feet in the set position and immdiately went into his pitching motion, much like a Little League pitcher. Yes, this is a balk. Call it as early as possible. In high school, a coach is responsible for making sure the pitcher knows the pitching rule. Call it right away and correct it so the pitcher does not keep doing it. What I don't understand, did he keep pitching this way the whole game and did the other coach have anything to say? I know this, if you don't call it the first inning, you'd better not plan on calling it in the seventh inning and the opposing coach should not be allowed to ***** about it later in the game.