Balk or not? FED

[jicecone]

"During these preliminary motions and during the set position until a delivery motion occurs, the pitcher may turn on his pivot foot or lift it in a jump turn to step with the non-pivot foot toward a base while throwing or feinting as outlined in 6-2-4 and 2-28-5, or he may lift his pivot foot in a step backward off the pitcher's plate which must be in or partially within the 24-inch length of the pitcher's plate"

In your thread, the pitcher did exactly what the rule allows him to do, so why would you say it is NOT legal.

[rbmartin]

Originally Posted by jicecone

...so why would you say it is NOT legal.

I didn't say it was not legal. I was expecting people more experienced than myself to support or verify the way I interpreted it : that it was a legal move.

[jicecone]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

I didn't say it was not legal. I was expecting people more experienced than myself to support or verify the way I interpreted it : that it was a legal move.

Got it. My bad

[rbmartin]

Just as a little background, I was doing a game last Saturday and a play happened as I described in the original post. I heard the usual mumbling and chirping "that's a balk" from the offensive dugout / fanbase which I ignored.

Between innings one of the coaches (he was very calm and cordial) inquired about the move. I said it was legal. Later in the game, he then got his rule book and pointed out the phrase " He shall go to the set position without interruption and in one continuous motion. He shall come to a complete and discernible stop..."

I told him to keep reading until he gets to the part that says "During these preliminary motions...the pitcher may turn on his pivot foot or lift it in a jump turn to step with the non-pivot foot toward a base while throwing .."

He seemed satisfied with my answer but I just wanted to be sure I was interpreting the rule as a whole correctly.

Thanks.

[biggravy]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

Just as a little background, I was doing a game last Saturday and a play happened as I described in the original post. I heard the usual mumbling and chirping "that's a balk" from the offensive dugout / fanbase which I ignored.

Between innings one of the coaches (he was very calm and cordial) inquired about the move. I said it was legal. Later in the game, he then got his rule book and pointed out the phrase " He shall go to the set position without interruption and in one continuous motion. He shall come to a complete and discernible stop..."

I told him to keep reading until he gets to the part that says "During these preliminary motions...the pitcher may turn on his pivot foot or lift it in a jump turn to step with the non-pivot foot toward a base while throwing .."

He seemed satisfied with my answer but I just wanted to be sure I was interpreting the rule as a whole correctly.

Thanks.

Did he watch the rest of the game from the parking lot?

[rbmartin]

Originally Posted by biggravy

Did he watch the rest of the game from the parking lot?

No reason for that.

[Robert E. Harrison]

Back in the day when I knew all of the rules and was full of piss and vinegar, if a coach pulled out a rule book, he was questioning my ability to umpire that game. He would have been in the parking lot as soon as I saw it.

Now in my older, more wisen (is that a word?) state and thanks to this forum, I allow the coach to ask his question and I answer it succinctly and tell him I will scan the relavent sections of the reference manual to which I refer and send him an email.

I had a friend that would bet the coach $50 that the coach was wrong and the assigner would be the arbitrater. He got an extra $200 that season.