Jump turn or disengagement

[maven]

I've been seeing tons of RH pitchers do this pickoff move with R1: they do what looks like a regular jump turn, but they make sure to land the pivot behind the rubber. Then they feint a throw to 1B.

To me, this is a balk: a jump turn is a move from the rubber, and to 1B it requires a throw, not a feint. But virtually everyone at multiple levels, including all amateur umpires I've seen lately, accepts this move. (I balked it in a HS varsity game some years ago, and everyone on both teams, plus my partner, looked at me like I had 2 heads.)

Presumably, they're ruling that the pivot foot moved backward in a "step," thus disengaging F1. If interpretation allows a jump turn to count as a "step" toward 1B with the free foot, why couldn't it allow a jump turn to count as a "step" with the pivot foot backward off the rubber?

I'm not aware of any such interpretation, at any level. This move is not permitted in pro ball, though again, I'm not aware of an interpretation prohibiting it.

Thoughts?

[Replacematt]

53 minutes ago, maven said:

I've been seeing tons of RH pitchers do this pickoff move with R1: they do what looks like a regular jump turn, but they make sure to land the pivot behind the rubber. Then they feint a throw to 1B.

To me, this is a balk: a jump turn is a move from the rubber, and to 1B it requires a throw, not a feint. But virtually everyone at multiple levels, including all amateur umpires I've seen lately, accepts this move. (I balked it in a HS varsity game some years ago, and everyone on both teams, plus my partner, looked at me like I had 2 heads.)

Presumably, they're ruling that the pivot foot moved backward in a "step," thus disengaging F1. If interpretation allows a jump turn to count as a "step" toward 1B with the free foot, why couldn't it allow a jump turn to count as a "step" with the pivot foot backward off the rubber?

I'm not aware of any such interpretation, at any level. This move is not permitted in pro ball, though again, I'm not aware of an interpretation prohibiting it.

Thoughts?

The front foot is key on this, not the back. Because it comes off the ground, it's considered a step. 

[Senor Azul]

Funny thing, Mr. maven, this question has been asked at least twice before and you participated in each of those two instances. Here is a response you made in that thread started in 2018 followed by a link to that thread--

No rule dictates the manner in which F1 must step backward, only that it be a step directly backward and land behind the rubber.

I've seen this too, and been asked about it. Most coaches would say: once that pivot moves, their runners better be getting back to their bases. Whether it moves up and does the hokey pokey or whatever is irrelevant.

https://umpire-empire.com/topic/70977-simulating-delivery-disengagement/

 

From the 2017 Jaksa/Roder manual (p. 149):

It is a balk if a pitcher who is in-contact—

Fails to disengage the rubber properly… A pitcher can disengage properly only if he steps his pivot foot onto the ground backward of and off the pitching rubber. He must do so without interruption or hesitation, and without a movement normally associated with his motion to pitch.

Here is how George Demetriou explains it in his 2019-2020 edition of the College Baseball Rules Study Guide (p. 140):

Once the pitcher has assumed either position, he may switch to the other only by first properly disengaging the rubber (stepping off). To be legal, the first movement must be the pivot foot in a rearward direction (9-1a5). The pivot foot must be placed on the ground behind the rubber before the free foot is moved or his hands are separated (9-1e Note).

[GiantEngineer]

So what was the consensus? Is the move in the OP a balk?

[Senor Azul]

Unfortunately, Mr. GiantEngineer, there was no consensus in either of the earlier threads. I say, of course, it is a balk. There is only one legal way to disengage the rubber—all the manuals say so—and the action described in the OP by Mr. maven ain’t it. A jump step pickoff is considered to be in contact with the rubber—all the manuals say so. So when a pitcher does a jump step and does not throw to first he has balked—he has not legally disengaged.

Here is the link to the second thread I referenced earlier—

https://umpire-empire.com/topic/76195-jump-turn-with-back-foot-going-behind-rubber/

Please note, as usual I am the only one presenting any supporting evidence. You are free to accept the objections posted by others but I think it would be wise if you accepted the guidance provided by Jaksa/Roder and George Demetriou.

[Senor Azul]

Just to show everyone that George Demetriou is not MSUing here’s the actual NCAA rule cited in the quote from his book—I cannot find this language written for FED or OBR but I would say that it applies to both those codes as well:

2021-2022 NCAA rule 9-1e

e. The pitcher, upon breaking contact with the pitcher’s plate by stepping backward and placing the pivot foot on the ground behind the pitcher's plate, becomes an infielder. If the pitcher then makes a wild throw, it is the same as a wild throw by any other infielder.

Note: To “step off” the pitcher’s plate, the pitcher must 1) step backward and place the pivot foot on the ground behind the pitcher's plate and 2) disengage the pivot foot before moving the free foot.

[maven]

7 hours ago, GiantEngineer said:

So what was the consensus? Is the move in the OP a balk?

Yes, it's a balk.

[noumpere]

7 hours ago, GiantEngineer said:

So what was the consensus? Is the move in the OP a balk?

Yes.

[Velho]

This is exactly the situation of my first balk call lat month (I've been exclusively LL small field).

And the DHC made the exact argument that F1 stepped off first. Given that the pivot foot was still on the rubber, that was an easy "no he never stepped off" and didn't need to get into that the pivot foot did not disengage before the free foot moved.