you make the call
 

runners on 2nd and 3rd, coach wants to intentionally walk the batter. the pitcher is on the rubber and drops the ball. is this a balk?

Why wouldn't it be?

does it matter if the umpire already signaled the batter to go to first?

If the umpire has signaled for the batter to head down to first base, then yes, it matters. In Fed, it is a dead ball award. 5-1-3

That was my thought. Upon the coach's request, the umpire should have called time to make the award. Dropping a dead ball is not a balk.

Yet another post where the rule-set in play is crucial. I didn't assume FED, and I'm guessing Matt didn't either.

Nor did I in the first post. In the second by the OP, though, he says that PU "signaled the batter to go to first", so that would imply FED or NAIA.

Is the ball dead in NAIA on this award?

If it crosses the foul (fair) lines, it would be a ball. (NFHS 6-2-4a; NCAA 9-2b; pro 8.01d Cmt, 8.05k).

Nope - ball remains "live"

So, in NAIA, if PU points the batter to first, and F1 then, immediately, drops the ball (or feints without stepping, for example), would it also be a balk? Would BR get second?

If I hear the coach request intentional walk and it registers, the ball is dead (FED). The signal might come a second later (FED). The mind is quicker than the hands, hands just signal what mind has already registered. Same as calling balls and strike and outs and safes, as long as the signal matches what mind has already decided.

Has anyone ever saw this happen? I mean, actually dropping the ball which then crosses the line ......I dont mean having the ball slip from the hand while pitching, i.e. a really wild pitch....

I once saw a pitcher, in the stretch, rotate the ball haphazardly on his side. It was cold and he lost control of the ball, essentially dropping it since he wasn't pitching or throwing it. Because he had been cocking his wrist so much while spinning the ball in his hand, it travelled close enough to first that the fielder picked it up before rolling any further. It may have crossed the line but I'll never know.

My answer simply was in response to a post asking why a such a dropped ball wouldn't be a balk, nothing more. It undoubtedly wouldn't be a rule in these three sets if it hadn't happened.

Ever have a runner not be able to complete his trip around the bases? I have never witnessed such a crazy play but there is a rule for it and the play happened! OBR 5.10,: If an accident to a runner is such as to prevent him from proceeding to a base to which he is entitled, as on a home run hit out of the playing field, or an award of one or more bases, a substitute runner shall be permitted to complete the play.

The Red Sox Blue played the Blue Jays on September 14, 2005. Gabe Kapler was R1 when Tony Graffanino hit a home run. Kapler ruptured his achillies tendon while rounding second and collapsed. Graffanino stayed 10 feet or so behind Kapler knowing that if he passed him the home run would not count, R1 would be out and Graffanino would have to stay on second. Five minutes passed and Terry Francona invoked rule 5.10 to put in a substitute runner, Alejandro Machado, for Kapler. The home run was completed and Boston scored two runs on one of the wierdest plays in baseball. Yes, we have some crazy rules.

What about dropping the ball as F1 steps off?
 

As F1 is stepping off the rubber (Pivot foot is no longer in contact with the rubber but has not touched the ground) the ball pops out, then the pivot foot hits the ground and then the ball hits the ground (does not cross Foul line)
Is this a balk or as long as his pivot foot hits the ground before the ball everything is OK?
I saw this happen on a bluff and runner on first. Fed rules.

Try again.