Balk?

[jicecone]

"From the MLBUM: "The pitcher shall be charged with a balk if, while in contact with the rubber, he throws to the first baseman who is either in front of or behind first base and obviously not making an attempt at retiring the runner at first base. However, there is no violation if the pitcher throws the ball directly to first base in this situation."

What part of this statement is not clear here.

Did he throw to the bag? NO

Was F3 obiviously trying to trying to retire the runner prior to receiving the ball? No

Text book call of rule interpretation. F3's location relative to the runner and the fact that he tagged him has no bearing on the determination of whether it was a balk or not.

It would have been a balk in NFHS and NCAA ball also.