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So last night, for the first time ever, I called the "both hands moving then stopped" balk. What happened next left me in shock and awe.

 

R2/R3, pitcher takes the rubber with hands down at his side in the windup. I'm VERY lenient on any movement to bring the hands together as 'assuming his initial position' if it's even remotely close. This, however, was not. He stood there with both hands at his side, looked in at the catcher for a bit, then brought both hands together in front of him. And stopped. I waited a sec, thinking 'is he going to keep going, however slowly?'...but nope, he stopped. Called the balk, he was perplexed...since it was a JV game, I thought it appropriate to tell him specifically why it happened, the whole 'with both hands down, moving both is start of motion'. This is a pet peeve of our state director, who had the good fortune to call it twice last year in a varsity game and have to hear "NO ONE HAS CALLED THAT ALL YEAR!". So he made sure we ALL knew about it this year.

But the amazing part was what happened next. I braced for the coach to come out asking what happened. It was only a 1-0 game, and this balked in a run. Nope, he stayed put. So maybe he was busy and didn't notice? Nope....as soon as the inning ended on the next batter, the pitcher went to his dugout and started asking what that was for. And the coach not only explained it, but demonstrated what he did wrong. He's not an umpire as far as I knew, but not only knew the rule but used it as a teaching moment for his pitcher.

Hero.

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I'm confused. Why is the motion described a balk?  You can't start your motion until your hands are together. All he was doing was bringing his hands together. The pitching hand has to be at his side or back but ther is nothing I can find that says where the glove hand has to be. 

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12 minutes ago, Rich Ives said:

I'm confused. Why is the motion described a balk?  You can't start your motion until your hands are together. All he was doing was bringing his hands together. The pitching hand has to be at his side or back but ther is nothing I can find that says where the glove hand has to be. 

In FED, if you start the windup with both hands at the side, moving both hands together constitutes start of the pitching motion and you have to continue. He didn't, he just brought them together and stopped. You can bring one hand up, stop, then bring the other. But if you move them both, you gotta keep going.

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13 minutes ago, Rich Ives said:

I'm confused. Why is the motion described a balk?  You can't start your motion until your hands are together. All he was doing was bringing his hands together. The pitching hand has to be at his side or back but ther is nothing I can find that says where the glove hand has to be. 

It has to do with FED time of pitch rule and caseplays that make both arms at the side coming together as the start of motion even though there was no leg motion. I'm not a fan of the rule.

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Ohio wants these provisions enforced. People lost tournament games last season (a state game, in fact) for non-compliance.

I enforced this provision earlier this season. The winning team brought in their closer whose windup was illegal, and I called it. Based on the coach's reaction, I believe the world ended as a direct result. (He also accused me of waiting till the 7th inning to call it — I called the first pitch by his closer.)
 

Quote

 

2.28.3 SITUATION B: R1 is on third base with two outs. F1 contacts the pitcher’s plate and assumes the wind-up position with his glove hand in front of his body and his pitching hand by his side. As he brings his pitching hand to his glove hand, R1 takes off for home. F1 steps legally off the pitcher’s plate with his pivot foot and throws to F2 to tag out R1.

RULING: This is not a balk. With the pitcher’s glove hand in front of his body and the pitching hand by his side, the act of bringing the two hands together does not constitute the “time of the pitch.” The out stands.

 

2.28.3 SITUATION C: With R1 on third base, F1 steps on the pitcher’s plate to take a sign from F2. After taking the sign, F1 brings both hands up together in front of his body and then stops to adjust the ball.

RULING: This is balk. R1 is awarded home. The time of the pitch occurred when F1 moved both arms.

 

COMMENT: What is the time of the pitch for the (a) windup or (b) set position? For the windup position, the “time of the pitch” occurs when the pitcher (a) after stepping onto the pitcher’s plate, with both hands in front of his body first starts any movement of his arm(s) or leg(s) prior to delivering the pitch; (b) with both hands at his side, he first starts any movement with both arms or the non-pivot foot prior to delivering the pitch; (c) with either hand in front of his body and the other hand at his side, after bringing his hands together, he first starts any movement of his arm(s) or leg(s) prior to delivering the pitch. In (b), it occurs the instant the pitcher, after coming to a complete and discernible stop, starts any movement with arm(s) and/or leg(s) that commits him to pitch.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, maven said:

Ohio wants these provisions enforced. People lost tournament games last season (a state game, in fact) for non-compliance.

 

 

Zoiks....I heard it happened in the tournament but didn't know it was in the finals and was that impactful.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm at work and don't have my rulebook handy. Set position is not the same as back foot in front of the rubber, but bent at the waist, hands down looking for sign, right? It's when they bring their feet/hands together they come "set"....

Just want to make sure I'm not confusing myself too much.

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1 hour ago, maquinn78 said:

I'm at work and don't have my rulebook handy. Set position is not the same as back foot in front of the rubber, but bent at the waist, hands down looking for sign, right? It's when they bring their feet/hands together they come "set"....

Just want to make sure I'm not confusing myself too much.

There are 2 legal pitching positions: the windup and the set. The set is the second one. :)

You're confusing "coming set" with the set position. The set position includes everything after F1 engages the rubber, including the stretch, "coming set," and the pitch (or throw, or whatever).

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