Always regretted not watching enough baseball when I was younger, and so things like the balk are still something of a mystical puff of arcane sleight-of-handery that makes Sotheby’s auction bidding and insinuating glances across Louis XIV’s banquet tables look like JP Gumby trying to pound lovely chrysanthemums into a vase.
Ok we’ll let that metaphor comparison marinate a little.
It so perturbs the half-living be-dronkle outa me having to rewind over and over and fucking over, trying to see exactly how the pitcher shifted too soon, or started to bring the ball out of his glove - but then stop, or when his depends gave way.
Curious if anyone else has as much an issue with the balk as I do in this regard, and even moreso, I’d like to hear from (surely much more knowledgeable than myself) folk about what I’m missing here, in terms of correctly assessing balk situations, what subtleties to look for, variations on pitchers setting up before stepping onto the rubber, etc…
“I never called a balk in my life. I didn’t understand the rule.” - Mr. Luciano.
Thank-you, Ron (R.I.P.) - I don’t feel quite as bad, now.
Basically it is any movement with a runner on base that attempts to deceive the runner about whether the pitcher is going to try to pick him off or throw to the plate. Usually a balk is called for one of two reasons.
in the first common balk situation, the pitcher is required to have a “set position” for throwing a pitch home. That set position by definition must have an observable pause. No pause, it is a balk. Usually this is the balk that is called even though the ball was delivered to the plate.
The second common balk call is an illegal pick off move. This one is really hard to figure out. This is the one called (usually) when there is a pick-off attempt. Basically it was “too good” of a pick-off. There are multiple rules about the pitcher and how he begins the motion. The simplest part of it is where does his front (facing the batter) leg go. If it goes “too much” towards home, the pitcher must go home. If he throws to a base, it’s a balk.
All that said…yeah…it’s hugely up to the judgement of the umpire team.
Here is a pitcher on my local team who is known for having a pick off move that really should be called a balk. he is rarely called for it. It is so hard to see in real time. The guy explaining the video does a good job of discussing the details of the move.
Interesting. Thanks. In another thread where I was whining about refs, that would have been another reason for me to avoid umping - missing calls like that, when in real time, you have to have a pretty keen eye. Eye-yie-yie!
So, if that was an example of the second common balk call you mentioned, then an example here of the first common balk call you mentioned:
There were two balks in a row. (!) The first balk was a funny little two-step boogie in the first second or so of the video, but the second balk was, again - I had to look a couple times before I *finally* saw his right knee buckle at :34.
I’ve seen a couple of obvious balks where the pitcher just messed up his motion, but the all the rest I’ve ever seen called resulted in complaints from the someone. And don’t forget a balk can only occur with a man on base.
One of the Cleveland pitchers has a weird motion that, apparently, if anyone else did it it would be considered a balk. However it is his normal motion and the umpires are aware of it so he does not get called for a balk on it. It’s a toe tap thing.
Right, if a pitcher does a “balk move” with no one on–and it does happen once in a blue moon, generally because the pitcher has dropped the ball or something else obvious and ridiculous–it is not scored as a balk but does count as a ball to the batter.
When the ball slips out of the pitcher’s hand with no runners on base, it’s called a ball only if the ball passes into foul ground. Otherwise, it is no pitch, no penalty.
Where do you get that from? You may well be right, but according to baseball reference (http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Balk) “A balk committed with no runner on base results in a ball being called, even if no pitch is made.” That includes, presumably, all the thirteen ways of committing a balk, most notably for these purposes “Drops the ball while standing on the pitching rubber.” --Baseball Reference could certainly be wrong, but usually they know what they are talking about.
The rules about what is or isn’t a balk are pretty extensive. The problem is that they’re difficult to enforce at the margins of the rule. Some things are clearly balks, and some are very tight decisions.
Yesterday R.A. Dickey of the Blue Jays was called for a balk and he just about lost his mind. I have to admit that, seeing the play, I immediately said “balk.” It appeared to me that he turned his body to commence his throw before stepping off the rubber or towards first base. But it’s a split second difference and even in slow motion, it was an incredibly close call.
Without looking at the rulebook, my understanding as a pitcher was you could do pretty much whatever you want with no runners on and suffer no consequences. The purpose of the balk call is to not deceive runners on base.
I always felt the jump spin move to 1st base was too dangerous. Too easy to either balk or have it erroneously called.
I’m in the same boat. I’m often mystified when the umpire calls a balk.
I heard an interview with a retired umpire once, and he said that in something like 20 years he had never once called a balk because he didn’t understand the rule himself.
