Mizzou2016

A) No. Judgement call I would imagine, but in this case definitely no. B) Rule 6.02(b) Comment (Rule 8.01(d ) Comment): A ball which slips out of a pitcher’s hand and crosses the foul line shall be called a ball; otherwise it will be called no pitch. This would be a balk with men on base.

And if you have a defensive coach that knows the rules and files a protest? HAH jk I make myself laugh.

The balk was not followed by a wild throw or a wild pitch, though. The ball slipped from his hand - that is the balk. It wasn't followed by anything.

A few people have mentioned fitting a delta flex on their Schutt XV or Air Flex Original: Thought I would share my solution: I fed the delta flex straps through the buckle, then through the slot I cut into the protector, then back through the buckle. Replaced the plastic snaps on the delta flex with the metal ones that came with my Air Flex, and I now have a chest protector that actually fits properly. Disclaimer: I am pretty small; for most people, there probably is not enough strap on the delta flex to do this.

I understand the notion of the spirit of the rule, and perhaps that should prevail - but . . . balks are different. Example. Bottom of the 9th, 1 out, R2, tie game. Pitcher fails to come set, Batter hits a deep fly ball. Ball is caught, R2 tags and makes it safely as the ball is thrown out of play. Ruling: Balk is enforced. R2 gets third, batter returns to bat. Now if that run doesn't score, you'll be very very unpopular, but that is how the ruling has to be made. The balk has to be enforced. The coach does not have the option of accepting the result of the play because as soon as the batter does not reach 1st safely, the ball is dead. In this case, as soon as the balk occurs, because it was not a wild throw or pitch and the batter did not reach 1st safely, the ball is dead and the balk must be enforced.

In 4-man someone goes out on every fly ball I believe - they stay in if they read it as a routine base hit.

You don't kill it because it wouldn't be a balk if the pitcher dropped it while not on the rubber.

You could keep it live, but I don't think that you'd be supported by the rules in doing so. You'll be unpopular with one team whether you kill it or not, but at least if you kill it you'd have the rule to support you. Also I can't picture a situation where a ball would roll that far just from a pitcher starting his delivery lol How fast is this guys windup?

Yea I don't think anyone can fault him for stumbling there - If you're in the correct position taking a throw at second, you don't really expect a 90 mph throw to come straight at you.

Are we missing the fact the R1 did not advance? He retreated back to first so that would not bring into play AR 6.02. Therefore the balk is enforced.

Ah makes sense now. We can't see third base so we don't know whether Ruiz rounded hard, or if it looked like action had stopped when PU started making awards. But like @basejester said, the defense was relaxed because the umpires had killed it. Ruiz probably reacted to that.

The runners advance a base because it is a balk. . . You are asking whether a pitcher stepping towards home but throwing to first could be declared a ball if it crosses the foul line? That would also be a balk - if a pitcher steps towards home, he has committed to pitch. It would be very easy to judge if it were a pitch that got away, or a throw to a base.

Your browser does not support iframes. Makes you feel a little bit better knowing it happens to the best in the business too.

..looks really really good.

No one is asking you to spend a fortune on an umpiring wardrobe. Black shirt, $25, mlb blue $25. A few years ago that was 1 game check per shirt for me. Im sure VA pays better than MO for umpiring. And if umpiring isn't your living, then you can probably afford to give up one of those game checks. Back when umpiring was my living (just rent and food while in college) I could still afford to give up a game check towards new gear. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

I don't like that philosophy - it may not be your living but you are getting paid - and looking and acting like a professional is part of that. Every single clinic I've gone to has started out the same way. "Professionalism." Professionalism dictates not only your attitude and actions, but taking pride in your appearance. (Clean pressed pants, polished shoes, clean hat, neatly trimmed facial hair. Or none at all in some associations) I wouldn't go to a black tie affair wearing a purple velvet suit, because I care about my appearance and don't want to look like I crawled out of the 70s. Umpiring is the same way. You may not like it, but it's the way things are. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

I really really like the Majestic material, so that's good to hear. I didn't like the Smitty as much, and in general am not a fan of their products.

Yea I saw that they are pretty pricey - I got my small for $16 + shipping last summer. It didn't register that they were phasing them out. I'll probably go with a Honigs

First varsity game here was March 23 - spring season was good here in MO, at least for me. I only had one game cancelled due to rain. Summer.. not so much.

Does anyone know why these are not being sold anymore? I got a black mlb style majestic polo last year, and wanted to get a size up, but can only find the honigs and smitty brands. Did the mlb guys go away from majestic?

Oh wow, for a guy trying to call someone else out for being condescending, you're doing an awfully good job of it yourself. Navy is outdated - if you don't care about the difference in heat retention, wear black.

Unless the defense is gaining a significant advantage, and the offense is egregious, then I wouldn't call it. That isn't to say it can't be called. The umpires aren't responsible for lining the fields. If in their judgement the catcher was out of position at the time of pitch, then yes, they can call a balk.

Jim Evans Official Interp: Following obstruction, a trailing runner is awarded the next base if he is at least halfway to that base at the time of obstruction. In this case, the umpire determined at the time of obstruction the BR was not halfway - it was probably pretty close. As a general rule though, base awards are pretty conservative at the Major League level

Short answer, this is good advice. There are a lot of reasons why, and few exceptions. On most plays at first, most runners already know they're out, no reason to rush it. @grayhawk explained it well