"Rules question for you..."

[UmpJM]

Gentlemen,

I received the following e-mail from a colleague of mine about a week ago concerning a situation he had in his game.

Rules question for you - . 16 year olds playing under fed rules.

Runner on second. Pitcher was a larger kid with a slight potbelly. From the stretch he came set with hands at his stomach. He took a deep breath before the delivery and his hands, which are against his stomach, move slightly. Third base coach screamed that’s a balk as the pitch is delivered. He started to argue the call with my partner on the field. He told them it’s not, and twice had to tell him to get back in the coaches box. After the inning the coach came to me behind the plate to question the ruling. He explained to me what he thought the problem was. I told him that I did not think it was a balk. The kid just breathed, it was not an exaggerated movement and there was no intent to deceive, so no balk. The coaches’ response was “so you are not going to enforce the rules”. I warned him that was not the path he wanted to take. I had asked him what he had, I told him what my ruling was, and that we needed to continue the game. Twice more he repeated his statement that I was not going to enforce the rules and twice more I warned him not to continue. He repeated it again a forth time as he tuned and walk away, and I ejected him from the game.

So my two questions for you; do you have balk in that situation, and would you have ejected the coach?

I've already spoken with him and shared my thoughts. Just thought I'd "throw this out there" to see what other people thought.

Discuss.

JM