BrainFreeze

The one single phrase I've used more than any this season, "Batter, in the box, please." Surprisingly effective and highly recommended.

Not gonna lie. Saw the topic: Coach handling player's protective gear Read this: Had NO idea what I was gonna read next.

You are correct. It's not nepotism. If Joe Biden owned Burisma, it could be nepotism. If there were any evidence that Brandon called a buddy at Burisma to hook Hunter up, that could also be nepotism. ' To be fair, Eric Trump having a prominent role in the Trump Org isn't really nepotism. It's a family company, no surprise that members of Trump's family run the business. He could have used tons of other examples of nepotism. For instance, if I'm a prominent public official, and I appoint my son-in-law -- who has no experience in government and who's own father went to prison for scummy SH*# -- as a special envoy to France. That would probably be nepotism. And when some French company forks over $2 billion to invest in my son-in-law's New York office building that's about to default? That's also probably nepotism, among other things. But that's a purely hypothetical example, no one could be so brazenly corrupt, could they?

OK I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought both of those things.

It's been a while since I umpired games for U12, but if a 12-year-old drops an F-Bomb loud enough for people to hear, he should be ejected.

Why?

My very sincere apologies. There was an experimental rule change for High-A in 2021. https://www.milb.com/press-release/minor-league-rule-changes

This response is pretty disappointing. It's not worth explaining much, because the legal move you're not bothering to describe doesn't exist. Pitcher is required to step directly towards a base when making a throw to 1B. It's physically impossible for a right-handed pitcher to pick up their free foot and step directly towards 1B. If any umpire thinks it's possible, I would love to see a video of said umpire on the mound actually trying it. Should be good for a giggle. Hopefully anyone that tries it will understand that the RHP's free foot must move towards HP on it's way towards 1B. It's not a direct step -- that's why it's a balk. <-- See that period again? That means period. Full stop. Balk. All day. Every day. Every ruleset. Everywhere.

You're misinformed. Please provide a source for that? YouTube is not a source.

Back to the original topic. My thoughts, without tangent: RHP comes set. He can step off backwards, pitch to home, or execute a jab step / jump turn pickoff move. The pause could easily be a balk, but I would be careful balking here. Most of us can judge well enough whether or not a pitcher has "frozen" in a position to call the balk. Sometimes, the pitcher can come very close to freezing but the are still moving slightly. You said you had a balk from the pause, so you saw it and it's hard to second-guess the call there. Let's assume that he didn't pause, but swung his leg in the air to first. Total balk. All day, every ruleset. I'll repeat what I said earlier, RHP in the set position cannot lift his free foot and throw to first. <-- see that period? That means period. No exceptions. Good call.

Thank you for clarifying. Please refer to @Senor Azul's comment directly above yours, the jab step needs to be done in a continuous motion without interruption. If it's not done quickly, it can easily be a balk, and unfortunately, that's what was being taught (incorrectly) to these young players.

Here's the link to the thread that Senor Azul mentions. Thank you for the reference @Senor Azul, the NFHS case play is informative.

@maven and @ErichKeane, you're saying that an RHP, after coming set, can pick up the free foot, and without disengaging, step towards 1B in a pick-off attempt? I understand that's different than what I said originally. Let me amend what I said originally: Once the RHP is set, anything that isn't a jump turn to 1st from an RHP is a balk.

OK - I read that and I thought, WHAT?? But after another read, it sounds like you're describing a jump turn/jab step. Yes? Because anything that isn't a jump turn from an RHP is a balk. We're on the same page, right? Tangent: I had the privilege of a "baseball guy" come to one of our practices, and he tried to teach our pitchers a "two-step" jump turn: Pivot foot comes off the pitcher's plate and steps towards third in front of the pitcher's plate. Free foot steps towards first base Pitcher throws. When 1 and 2 are done together and quickly, it's a jump turn. He wasn't teaching together and quickly though -- it was a two-step move that was almost like a dance step. You could count it out -- step, step, throw. The pitcher would disengage the pitcher's plate by stepping forward. Then, free foot would step towards 1B. ( I hope I'm describing it well enough. ) I was an AC on the team, so I kept to myself. I told our HC, hey that's not legal that's a balk. HC asked "baseball guy" and he got irate, swearing up and down it was legal. "Baseball" guy was a youth coach -- definitely not an umpire.

@ArchAngel72 is this in Little League?