| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
rustybucket
67 Posts |
 Posted - 09/12/2013 : 09:34:29
|
We had a pitcher called for a balk this past summer in one of our last games. To be honest I had kinda shrugged it off until the pitcher asked me about it this fall in our pitching clinic.
The call was deceiving a runner on second base. No runners on first or third.
First of all, this pitcher's leg kick is very 'deep', his back almost completely faces the batter during his normal delivery.
To the runner on second this deep kick kinda looks like the pitcher may be trying to pick him at 2nd.
To add to this illusion, the pitcher began separating the ball/glove earlier in his kick. He also looks at the base runner during his kick. When he does this some base runners bite, and dive back to the bag.
He did this literally 100 times throughout the course of the season and didn't get called on it until the very end.
1. He is not stopping his delivery, it is very smooth all the way through.
2. The ball only separates from the glove once.
3. He delivers the pitch to home plate.
4. He is not faking a throw to 2nd.
So, is this a balk? |
|
|
in_the_know
985 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2013 : 09:54:27
|
Every pitch, with runners on base is a balk. It's just a matter of whether it's called or not. If you pause or change the timing of delivery with a runner on, you're trying to deceive the runner (i.e., mask what you're going do do). Look back once on one delivery or twice on another, what's the point? To deceive the runner.
If he's been called on it once out of hundreds of times, I'd tell him to put it out of his mind and keep doing what he's always done. If it's called a few times, so be it. Not worth the effort to fix something that's completely subjective and .01% of his total pitches.
Frankly, there's really no right answer to your question since it's a judgement call. 100 umpires won't agree on your question. |
 |
|
|
rustybucket
67 Posts |
Posted - 09/12/2013 : 10:29:45
|
That's kinda what I was thinking. I'm a lefty and when I used to pitch, with a runner on first, I had a completely different leg kick and shoulder action than with no runners on. I think that pretty much every lefty changes at least their leg kick with a runner on first.
The only reason this call 'got' to me, was that there was tons of flinching and shoulder turning going on by all pitchers, and we get called for this grey area.... We were in 9u last year and the balk calls were very forgiving, and then this one came out of the blue. lol.
Thanks for your input in_the_know! |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Balk Question
