What would you tell Smitty?
 

I had one of our association's notorious Smitties again tonight for a double header. Sweet man, been doing baseball since the Cleveland Spiders played. But oh, what a Smitty.

Last time we worked, we had a disagreement about balks. He declared that, with R3, the pitcher could not throw to F5 away from the base, and if he did it was a balk. I said nope. Dear old Smitty insisted that the rule was F1 has to throw to the base, and encouraged me to go look it up when I got home.

He followed up with me today, asking if I looked it up. Still insists that throwing to F5 away from the base is a balk. What would you tell Smitty?

I'd tell him there's an "umpire org" in Georgia that doesn't require ejection reports in a timely manner looking for him. Then I'd ask him if it's legal to feint a throw to third from the rubber as long the pitcher steps ahead of the feint.



Tim.

I would tell him I didn't look it up because I did not need to, but I would ask for his address to send the interps if he would like to see them.

Nothing and move on.

I would say that I looked it up, and he's still wrong. Then I would ask him to point out his so-called rule to me, since I couldn't find it.

Yep, did that. He said that F1 can "pitch, step off, or step and throw/feint to a base," which he interprets as meaning F1 has to throw to the base if he throws at all.

I don't want to say merely, "you're wrong," but I don't have a neat, brief explanation. I also tried explaining that, if F1 can step and feint to 3B, that stepping and throwing to F5 can't be a balk.

Oh well. He said he'd bring it up at the next rules meeting, so I guess it's been bothering him.

You might want to tell ol' Smitty that the rule book isn't the only source from which we get our interpretations. Then tell him of all the wonderful manuals that contain the actual interpretations that we use in everyday umpiring.

The "throw to F4/F6 away from the base" is in the JEA balk video. It might also be in the MLBUM.

Michael,

Here is the MLBUM reference that Bob J. mentioned:

JM

Dear Ole Smitty was the exact reason I carried most of my manuals in a plastic container in the rear of the car.

I didn't wait until latter, when I had a question to be answered it usually was answered by the time we left the parking lot.

This was also my way of clearing up questions I had about my own performance.

Many of times, instead of getting into a discussion one way or the other I would just say defer it until after the game and hold my back of the car interpretation session. I have even let others take the manual home to read.

I always looked at it as chance to help the Smitties of the world know the rules better so next time we worked he would get it right and we would BOTH look better.

By the same token, there were many times I also corrected myself, bottom line though, there was a crew that was that much better educated on the rules and that is what it is really about.

Glad to learn that I'm covering the bases. I referred specifically to the Evans balk video and to pro enforcement. It will be interesting to see what happens if this question does indeed come up at an association rules meeting.

Since this has come up before, during games and at pre-season association clinics, I have 4 excerpts from various interps on the subject and as mentioned here it is covered on the Evans balk video as well.

1. Study Guide: College Baseball
2. J/R
3. PBUC
4. MLBUM

The interp is the same in all.

Then to round out his education, you had best let him know that OBR, and the interps, don't cover everything and he had better have a Plan B.

Thinly veiled shot at me. One problem, I'm not in Georgia and neither is my unpire "org". "A" for effort, "F" for final grade. :D