VBlue71

Thanks to all who replied to this post. In particular I appreciate the direct FED rule citations and melding the rules together for a clearer explanation of why it's not a balk. This is a great site with a lot of helpful and knowledgeable people. It can be a very valuable resource.

Wendelstedt interpretation manual and Evans balk video are crystal clear on this play but the game was played under FED rules so I'm looking for a FED interp. R1 & R2, F1 pitching from the stretch, F3 not holding R1. Right-handed F1 not realizing F3 isn't holding R1 picks to first. F1 steps directly towards first, gains distance, and throw the ball directly to the base. F3 is caught off guard and doesn't move a step. The ball hits R1 as he dives back to the base and comes to rest beside him. Is this a balk in FED? It's not under professional rules. I've had a number of umpires tell me this is a balk but they tend to confuse throwing the ball to F3 who is standing still away from first base vs. throwing it directly to the base as they explain why it's a balk. Can anyone help by pointing me to the exact FED rule or a FED casebook play covering this situation? Thanks in advance for your help.

This clip also contains video from 2 different plays. In the first play (shown from 2 different angles) F1 completes a throw to F6 and a rundown ensues. In the second play F1 only feints the throw. It seems odd to show 2 plays. Especially when, what appears to be the correct answer contains language ("as soon as the pickoff is caught by the infielder"), doesn't happen in the second play.

I went last year. You work full 7 inning games, either 2 or 3 man. You can work Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and there are a few games on Monday. You can work as many or as few games as you'd like. Games are assigned based on your requests for either 2 or 3 man, dates, time and assigner(s) you want to be seen by. It's not an exact science but he tries hard to match things up. I worked 3 games. Two 3 man and a 2 man. They were HS age teams. It was a Perfect Game tourney I believe. You get a detailed eval after the game. It's critical but fair and very helpful. MidAm did the eval on two of my games. He told me exactly what I did of note (good and bad) and what inning it happened. Then told me what I should have done. I worked with one guy who is in the minor leagues today and one who has worked the DIII CWS. My other partner hadn't worked college. There was a former Triple A guy there and a bunch of guys like me who were trying to get into college baseball. It's not a clinic, there is not on field or classroom instruction. It's college assigners looking for college umpires, either to move up or get in the door. Well worth my time and money. I'd go back this year but have a conflict that weekend. I hope this helps.