Balk question

To be honest, coach, there are too many levels of rules for me to keep up with...and I've never fully understood why. I'm not referring to amateur rules that speed up the game.

 

What do you get for $5?

Being I was the one not calling the "balk"...It was nothing. But I would like to thank the 100 or so Mom's and Dad's in the stands with their help.

Thank You.

 

The "Longtime Umpire" is wrong. Those are a balk at every level...every time.

 

I definately don't understand all the rules on balks, but it seems that a high percentage of actual balks never get called in games. Some umpiring crews never call a balk while some emphasize it. Really inconsistant across the board.

 

according to my rule book it states the following:
8.05 If there is a runner, or runners, it is a balk when - (d) The pitcher, while touching his plate, throws or feints a throw to an unoccupied base, except for the purpose of making a play.

with this being said and my interpretation is that none of those situations would be considered a balk because there is a play being made at the particular unoccupied bag in which the runner is going to.

 

In these 3 situations, it actually does depend on what rulebook you go by.

The high school book says that the pitcher can throw to any base for the purpose of making a play on or forcing back a runner. So these would not be balks as long as the pitcher steps directly toward the base in on continuous motion.

The OBR says to make a play, which by interpretation means the runner is half way there or more.

I hate rule difference like this because there is no need for the high school book to differ from the OBR.

 

what if that runner hasn't reached the "half way" point when he realizes the pitcher has just thrown in front of him and he decides to retreat back. Does this situation now become a balk?

 

i had this discussion with this umpire before one of our games this season. just so happen that scenario #2 that i mentioned above happened. we never worked on the inside move but it just so happened that my pitcher did it. got the runner from first out and held the runner at 3rd. knowing this rule has completely changed the way we defense 1st and 3rd early steal situations.

 

Can I throw in a question that I just don't understand?

Man on first, nobody out.

Hit and run..

Baserunner passes 2nd base while ball is hit in the RC gap. While the baseunner is somewhere halfway between 2B and 3B, the ball rolls UNDER the fence.

Why must the baserunner stop at 3rd? I understand that the batter should stop at 2B but why should the baserunner stop at 3rd when it's a hit and run and when the ball goes UNDER the fence some seconds later, he has to basically go back to 3rd base rather than standing up to score?

I understand it's a dead ball / ground rule double or whatever, but it just makes zero sense in that situation.

 

You are correct on the ground rule double situation you mentioned. The reason he has to stop at 3rd is because the rulebook says all runners including the batter-runner are awarded 2 bases from where they are at the time of the pitch. It doesn't matter whether they were stealing, really fast, etc. The time of the pitch is defined as when the pitcher starts his motion to the plate. At that moment, the runner on first is still considered to be on 1st because that is the last base legally aquired.

As to why this is? Who knows.... its the rule though.