balk or no

[GarthB]

most likely stems from your partner's poor reading of 4.03:

"When the ball is put in play at the start of, or during a game, all fielders other than the catcher shall be on fair territory.

"(a) The catcher shall station himself directly back of the plate. He may leave his position at any time to catch a pitch or make a play except that when the batter is being given an intentional base on balls, the catcher must stand within the lines of the catcher's box until the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. PENALTY: Balk"

Some less than observant umpires and a whole bunch of coaches do not understand that the Penalty described in (a) pertains ONLY to (a) and they apply it to F3 and F5.

I am always amazed at how many coaches yell for me to call a balk when F3 is outside the baseline. I now include a mention of this rule at all off- and pre-season coaches meetings at which I am invited to speak.

[Edited by GarthB on Aug 15th, 2001 at 11:18 AM]