Fingers to the mouth balk

[stkjock]

@KenBAZ  - I understand why you handle it the way you do and agree it's preventative, however, from a OHC perspective, haven't you potential intervened in game play and cost my team a base due to F1s lack of proper procedure?   Would you call time and prevent a balk if F1 did something that would by rule be a balk?

[noumpere]

19 minutes ago, kylehutson said:

What about in OBR? I was doing a USSSA (OBR with modifications) tourney this weekend and had a 14u pitcher who was licking his hand and sometimes-wiping-it-off sometimes-not. I'm sure he wasn't doing it maliciously (or, for that matter, even consciously). Between innings I told his coach I wasn't calling it a balk because I wasn't sure it was, but that I knew it was in high school "for coaching purposes". 

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/official_rules.jsp

 

(c) (8.02) Pitching Prohibitions
The pitcher shall not:
(1) While in the 18-foot circle surrounding the pitcher’s
plate, touch the ball after touching his mouth or lips, or
touch his mouth or lips while he is in contact with the
pitcher’s plate. The pitcher must clearly wipe the fingers
of his pitching hand dry before touching the ball or the
pitcher’s plate.
EXCEPTION: Provided it is agreed to by both managers,
the umpire prior to the start of a game played in cold
weather, may permit the pitcher to blow on his hand.
PENALTY: For violation of this part of this rule the umpires
shall immediately remove the ball from play and issue a
warning to the pitcher. Any subsequent violation shall be
called a ball. However, if the pitch is made and a batter
reaches first base on a hit, an error, a hit batsman or otherwise,
and no other runner is put out before advancing at
least one base, the play shall proceed without reference to

[ALStripes17]

[mention=2897]KenBAZ[/mention]  - I understand why you handle it the way you do and agree it's preventative, however, from a OHC perspective, haven't you potential intervened in game play and cost my team a base due to F1s lack of proper procedure?   Would you call time and prevent a balk if F1 did something that would by rule be a balk?

Preventive officiating is precisely that, preventive... We can prevent infractions that aren't a part of the actual game at hand. (Plus, you're not denied a base here, it's only a ball added to the count in FED). If a pitcher is on the rubber and does this with runners on, different story.

But I have zero issues with catching this off the rubber and replacing the baseball before it becomes an infraction. This is an 'I got you' moment that is avoidable.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[KenBAZ]

In response to Jim's question. If a HS pitcher was on the rubber with the ball live and he went to his mouth as in the diagram, I have and would call a balk.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[umpstu]

On 6/23/2017 at 10:03 AM, stkjock said:

@KenBAZ  - I understand why you handle it the way you do and agree it's preventative, however, from a OHC perspective, haven't you potential intervened in game play and cost my team a base due to F1s lack of proper procedure?   Would you call time and prevent a balk if F1 did something that would by rule be a balk?

You mean like while pitcher is on the rubber with runners on base bring his hand to his mouth?  Something like that?