Balk or not?

[Guest Jimmy Carl Black]

Can someone please explain to me how this is not being called a balk by these umpires? I am not actually talking about the move to second as most of the people in the comments are. I am taking about what I see as both a double set and illegal leg movement. To me, the leg movement does not meet the legal criteria for the completion of the stretch prior to coming set. I believe he has come set once his hands completely stop (the hand movement is supposed to be "continuous" - the exact word NCAA uses – this is a college game) which would make each of those leg "twitches" a balk. And then the second set would be a balk as well. What am I missing?

(Warning – some NSFW language in the video)

https://www.tiktok.com/@laughingonthesidelines/video/6821863423664557317

[Replacematt]

6 minutes ago, Guest Jimmy Carl Black said:

Can someone please explain to me how this is not being called a balk by these umpires? I am not actually talking about the move to second as most of the people in the comments are. I am taking about what I see as both a double set and illegal leg movement. To me, the leg movement does not meet the legal criteria for the completion of the stretch prior to coming set. I believe he has come set once his hands completely stop (the hand movement is supposed to be "continuous" - the exact word NCAA uses – this is a college game) which would make each of those leg "twitches" a balk. And then the second set would be a balk as well. What am I missing?

(Warning – some NSFW language in the video)

https://www.tiktok.com/@laughingonthesidelines/video/6821863423664557317

1. He's not set until everything is stopped. Thus, he doesn't come set until after those leg movements.
2. This is the Northwoods League, and it's OBR (but that doesn't matter for your question.)

[Guest Jimmy Carl Black]

12 minutes ago, Matt said:

1. He's not set until everything is stopped. Thus, he doesn't come set until after those leg movements.
2. This is the Northwoods League, and it's OBR (but that doesn't matter for your question.)

Thank you for the reply. Maybe I'm being too nit picky, but even if we disregard the "must come to the set position using a continuous hand motion" statement since this is not in fact NCAA but OBR, I would still argue that his foot motion stops for a discernible split second – which would constitute a complete stop, right? – before he drops his hands into a second set. So, even if his leg movement is not a balk, I still think it's a double set, at least in the first video. I've seen pitchers do similar jerky leg twitches – Mariano Rivera for example – as they're coming set but they always keep their hands in motion (as Rivera did). With his hands completely still, I would argue that the very instant his legs stop, then he's "set" and can't drop his hands further. Am I still missing something?

[Replacematt]

6 minutes ago, Guest Jimmy Carl Black said:

Thank you for the reply. Maybe I'm being too nit picky, but even if we disregard the "must come to the set position using a continuous hand motion" statement since this is not in fact NCAA but OBR, I would still argue that his foot motion stops for a discernible split second – which would constitute a complete stop, right? – before he drops his hands into a second set. So, even if his leg movement is not a balk, I still think it's a double set, at least in the first video. I've seen pitchers do similar jerky leg twitches – Mariano Rivera for example – as they're coming set but they always keep their hands in motion (as Rivera did). With his hands completely still, I would argue that the very instant his legs stop, then he's "set" and can't drop his hands further. Am I still missing something?

I would say that I disagree that there's a stop within all those movements, but that's judgment. 

[noumpere]

This kind of reminds me of the old "is a change of direction  a stop and a balk?" discussions -- because, purely by physics, the hands have to come to a stop to change directions (assuming they are moving up and down along the same path).  Same  in this video -- by some technical physics explanation, there's probably a stop.  By the baseball meaning of the word, I didn't see a stop.