Balk called when turning shoulders
 

Gentlemen:

I need a little help understanding the shoulder turn balk call. I have seen a balk called and I have also called it when a right handed pitcher after coming set, turns his shoulders, rather than his head to look at the runner at first , or for left handed pitcher looking to third. Why would it be OK to turn your head but not your shoulders?

For the last couple of weeks or so I have been brushing up on my rules. I can not find any reference to this shoulder turn balk call in OBR section 8.0 or the J/R. I call Pony and Bronco ( modified OBR).

So what’s the rule on this? OBR and FED. Thanks

It's a feint to first base.

You can't find it because there's no reference in OBR to "turning the shoulders" being a balk. It's a balk if the umpire determines it's a feint; it's not a balk if the umpire determines that it's not a feint.

FED rule....

6-1 states in part "Turning the shoulders to check the runners while in contact with the pitcher's plate in the set position is legal. Turning the shoulders after bringing the hands together during or after the stretch is a balk."

Once the pitcher has "come set," in any rule code, turning the shoulders is considered a feint, and thus a balk. Just to not confuse anyone, "coming set" and "set position" are two different things. In the original situation, the pitcher had already brought his hands together and "come set."

In OBR, you can turn the shoulders after bringing the hands together, and prior to "coming set," when pitching from the "set position."

And in a classic case of unintended consequences, this relatively new FED rule has actually increased the separation between the FED and the OBR enforcement. As Bob Jenkins and others noted, the OBR enforcement principle is that the pitcher cannot feint to first while in contact with the rubber. The FED rule now allows the pitcher to do exactly that, as long as it is before he begins his motion to join hands.

Under OBR rules, the judgment of whether the pitcher is legally checking the runner vs. illegally feinting towards the runner is based more more on the speed of the move, than whether the shoulders turn (within reason).

Hmmmmm.

Yep.