Hey Big Dip of Cope

Did he pull his left leg off the rubber?

 

Before I say who is correct,,,,,, to TGIF, please explain why you would call balk.

... and to flotg, pitcher made a legal turn, no problems with his turn to 1st.

(its amazing to me to find the numbers of people who don't know this one, to include coaches AND umpires)

 

In high school its a balk, the ball is immediately dead and you move 'em up one base.

In NCAA & OBR, its a balk, but the ball is not dead and R2 is only protected to the next base. If he tries to go beyond 3rd base, he is liable to be put out. So the call would be out at home, no run.

 

Big Dip,,, right guys, its a balk. I was hoping someone would explain WHY its a balk, because I have seen so many fans, coaches and umpires that didn't know this rule.

Here's the way I understand the rule. This particular situation given is a balk because the first baseman (in this example) is playing BEHIND the runner (or off the base) making no attempt to "make a play" whatsoever. Any throw from the pitcher to 1B in this situation is a balk. This play is only legal if the first baseman breaks for 1B and THEN the pitcher turns to make the throw, then in the umpires' opinion, the first baseman is trying to "make a play", and the pickoff attempt is legal.

Big Dip, is that the way you understand it?

 

Yea, I'm sorry, I didn't know that is what you were asking, I thought you were asking what would happen after he threw it away. But you are correct, the 1st basemen has to be in the vicinty of the base (its the only base like that) or it is a balk. You could throw directly to the short stop or 2nd basemen with a man on 2nd or to the 3rd basemen with his heels on the grass if there is a runner on 3rd, but 1st base is special like that - the 1st basemen actually has to be on or near the base itself.

 

Thought so. And actually, you see this play more than you think. Have already seen it happen twice this year. And btw, neither time was it called a balk, which tells me neither coach, nor none of the umpires knew the rule, because nobody complained or argued after the play was over. After the dust settled, they just carried on like nothing wrong happened.

 

Balks in high school, especially JV ball, slip by umpires, because they're simply not paying attention or they see, it but don't wanna call it because the other coach didn't say anything about it.

 

One last YOU MAKE THE CALL for today...

(and this comes up a lot)

- Runner on 1st & 3rd, with 1 out, batter hits fly ball to outfield, outfielder makes the catch for out 2, runner on 3rd tags up and scores,,,, but runner on 1st was playing halfway and loafs getting back to bag. Runner from 3rd crosses the plate to score, but defense sees loafer going back to 1st, throws to 1st to double him off for not getting back in time, out 3.

Question: Does the run count?

 

Timing play

Yes the run from 3rd would score if he scored before the 3rd out was made. This would be considered a timing play.

 

Perfect explaination. Alot of people think it is a force play. I had this play in a high school game 2 years ago.