Does the pitcher have to completely clear rubber when stepping to 2nd?

[GreyhoundAggie]

So here's the question that came up in a game a couple weeks ago.

Varsity Fed

RH pitcher on the mound. R2. The pitcher picks his front leg up and crosses over to step towards 2nd. But he doesn't completely clear the rubber. He steps on the rubber but most of his foot was past the rubber.

The offensive coach asked for time and asked if that wasn't a balk since he didn't clear the rubber.

I've heard this interpreted multiple ways at multiple clinics.

Some have said he must completely clear the rubber or its a balk.

Others have said he only needs to get some part of his foot past the rubber since that constitutes gaining ground.

What say you gentlemen?

 

[wolfe_man]

I'd tend to lean that he was fine.  The balk idea is to prevent an unfair advantage by F1. I'm sure as soon as he moved, the whole team and OC's started yelling "back!" at the top of their lungs.   If they could clearly see his movement towards 2B, then no balk was made in my judgment.

[maven]

What does the rule say about this? Hint: nothing.

The rule says that a "step" toward the base is required. We interpret that as "distance and direction," which is to say, the free foot must move (out of the footprint—that's "distance") more toward the target base than toward any other base (roughly 45° on either side of the base—that's direction).

That's all relatively straightforward for 1B and 3B, where the rubber doesn't really come into play. But if (as in another recent balk thread) we're allowing jump turns (and we are), I can see where the free foot wouldn't get past the rubber and still count as gaining distance and direction toward 2B.

Without more specific guidance from your supervisor (which obviously trumps anything we read on the interwebs), I don't see any basis for insisting that the free foot cross completely past the rubber here.

Perhaps the coach (or whoever) is confusing the requirement that the pivot move completely behind the rubber when disengaging? That seems the most likely explanation for this "requirement."

[GreyhoundAggie]

That was my basis for telling the coach it wasn't a balk. I stated he doesn't have to clear the rubber, he just has to gain distance towards the base which the pitched did. He accepted that and we went on with the game. I was just curious if anyone else had a different opinion.

This always seems to fall into that "myths of the game" rule set like "hands are part of the bat" that non-umpires spout.

[Senor Azul]

Mr. GreyhoundAggie, we had a discussion about this very question in 2017 and one of our contributors, Mr. MidAmUmp, pretty much proved that the answer is yes—at least in college games. In addition, Mr. MooseLoop also provided a quote from the famous Jim Evans balk video that states the same thing—a pitcher must clear the rubber in his step toward second base. The funny thing is that both you and Mr. maven, who is correct 99.9% of the time, participated in that thread.

Here’s a link to that thread in the Collegiate forum and it is dated June 2, 2017--

 

 

[GreyhoundAggie]

8 minutes ago, Senor Azul said:

Mr. GreyhoundAggie, we had a discussion about this very question in 2017 and one of our contributors, Mr. MidAmUmp, pretty much proved that the answer is yes—at least in college games. In addition, Mr. MooseLoop also provided a quote from the famous Jim Evans balk video that states the same thing—a pitcher must clear the rubber in his step toward second base. The funny thing is that both you and Mr. maven, who is correct 99.9% of the time, participated in that thread.

Here’s a link to that thread appears in the Collegiate forum and is dated June 2, 2017--

 

 

I had forgotten about that thread. Thanks Azul. Darn near 4 years ago. The memory is fading. Thanks for linking to that. I'll run this by our state rules interpreter to see how they want us to call it at the FED level here in Tejas. Seems pretty cut and dry they want it called at the NCAA/MLB level if he doesn't clear the rubber. Mad props to @MidAmUmp for his help on this years ago with all the  documentation.

[Jimurray]

9 hours ago, GreyhoundAggie said:

I had forgotten about that thread. Thanks Azul. Darn near 4 years ago. The memory is fading. Thanks for linking to that. I'll run this by our state rules interpreter to see how they want us to call it at the FED level here in Tejas. Seems pretty cut and dry they want it called at the NCAA/MLB level if he doesn't clear the rubber. Mad props to @MidAmUmp for his help on this years ago with all the  documentation.

While I agree NCAA/OBR interps say the free foot should clear the rubber what is the guy who is supposed to call that going to be looking at? Kind of like the snap throw to 1B where the hands separate before the pivot foot plants. If it happens fast enough I probably didn't see it and wouldn't call it especially in FED where the there is no guidance. And regarding OBR there have been pitchers who did not clear the rubber by a small amount and were not balked. In your OP I think that would also qualify.