Balks from the preliminary set position

[jdmara]

Originally Posted by mbyron

I agree: balk in all 3 situations.

Remember, from either the set or the windup, F1 may do 1 of only 3 things:
1. pitch
2. disengage properly ("step off")
3. step and throw/feint toward a base (FED: can't do this from windup)
Your situations represent a few of the many things that do not fall under these three types of permissible activity.

BTW: try to limit yourself to just a few words when explaining a balk. So we might have:
Sit. 1: "Never disengaged." or, if it looked more like a pitch than a pickoff, "never came set."
Sit. 2: "Never disengaged."
Sit. 3: "Started and stopped."

Good tidbit about limiting your response to a few words. It's something the veterans do out of instinct but the rookies don't ever think about.

Excuse me for my ignorance on this but is it legal in NCAA to step and throw towards a base from the windup?

-Josh

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by jdmara

Excuse me for my ignorance on this but is it legal in NCAA to step and throw towards a base from the windup?

Yes.

[UmpJM]

Josh,

Like OBR, NCAA rules permit a pitcher to throw a pick-off from the windup.

JM

[jdmara]

Thanks gentleman! Out of all the leagues I've umpired (obviously I've never done a true college game) I've never operated under NCAA rules, always OBR and FED (and of course the modified rules).

-Josh

[umpjim]

Situation 3 is a balk and I would say the same thing. "Started .. or Not Continuous..." . You shouldn't get any grief from the coach. They all know it is a balk. But, after I called a balk this summer on something similar I perused the rule book that night for some rules refreshment to go along with the one I was drinking. I found that there is no penalty for not continuously coming set in OBR 8.01b. So what was I balking? Feinting without a step in OBR 8.05. Edited to add: If you're calling FED the same requirement is specifically penalized as a balk in 6.1.3.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by umpjim

I found that there is no penalty for not continuously coming set in OBR 8.01b. So what was I balking?

If it's not continuous, then there's a stop. "He started and stopped, skip." Balk.

[Rita C]

Originally Posted by mbyron

If it's not continuous, then there's a stop. "He started and stopped, skip." Balk.

That's fine. But Umpire Jim is saying that it doesn't specifically say in OBR that that is a balk.

8.01 says that it must not be done but doesn't give a penalty and it's not specifically listed as a balk offense in 8.05.

Rita

[umpjim]

It is a balk in OBR if you judge it as a feint without a step (nevermind 1B) under 8.05 which is usually the case at the levels I call. If you watch some MLB setup men and closers you will see some guys not co-co-co-tin-tin-usaully come set and they are not balked. It is not judged a feint because they always do it and the runners are not driven back. Like I said, if you tell a coach "started and stopped or not continuous.. * you won't catch any grief at my levels. Just be aware of what you are really balking. And of course in FED it is a rulebook balk. I don't know about NCAA etal.