OBR then Fed ruling please

[ArchAngel72]

Sit R3 no out

RHP from set picks up back foot and while foot is over the PP ( in air over it) before it lands on the ground behind it throws to F5, runner dives back safe.

OBR ?

Fed ?

Both I am wondering is this a balk as he has not completed the step off from plate movement and he did not step towards the base?

 

 

[beerguy55]

As far as I know both prohibit the snap throw (no step) without stepping to the base, while on the rubber.   

FED specifically says that the pitcher becomes an infielder only after the pivot foot clearly touches the ground behind the rubber, so sounds like a balk there.

OBR doesn't say that specifically, in the rules anyway...just that you must be off the rubber, and must step backwards - the question is whether a step is only completed once the foot comes back to the ground - he's definitely off the rubber and definitely stepPING backwards.   Unless there's some other kind of case/ruling, I don't think it's a balk in OBR.

 

ART. 3 . . . For the set position, the pitcher shall have the ball in either his gloved hand or his pitching hand. His pitching hand shall be down at his side or behind his back. Before starting his delivery, he shall stand with his entire non-pivot foot in front of a line extending through the front edge of the pitcher's plate and with his pivot foot in contact with or directly in front of and parallel to the pitcher's plate. He shall go to the set position without interruption and in one continuous motion. He shall come to a complete and discernible stop (a change of direction is not considered an acceptable stop) with the ball in both hands in front of the body and his glove at or below his chin. Natural preliminary motions such as only one stretch may be made. During these preliminary motions and during the set position until a delivery motion occurs, the pitcher may turn on his pivot foot or lift it in a jump turn to step with the non-pivot foot toward a base while throwing or feinting as outlined in 6-2-4 and 2-28-5, or he may lift his pivot foot in a step backward off the pitcher's plate which must be in or partially within the 24-inch length of the pitcher's plate. In order to change to the wind-up position, he must first step clearly backward off the pitcher's plate with his pivot foot first. After the pitcher has placed his pivot foot on the ground clearly behind the plate, he then has the right to throw or feint to a base the same as that of any other infielder.

 

 

(e) Effect of Removing Pivot Foot From Plate

If the pitcher removes his pivot foot from contact with the pitcher’s plate by stepping backward with that foot, he thereby becomes an infielder and if he makes a wild throw from that position, it shall be considered the same as a wild throw by any other infielder.

Rule 5.07(e) Comment: The pitcher, while off the rubber, may throw to any base. If he makes a wild throw, such throw is the throw of an infielder and what follows is governed by the rules covering a ball thrown by a fielder.

[noumpere]

1 hour ago, ArchAngel72 said:

Sit R3 no out

RHP from set picks up back foot and while foot is over the PP ( in air over it) before it lands on the ground behind it throws to F5, runner dives back safe.

OBR ?

Fed ?

Both I am wondering is this a balk as he has not completed the step off from plate movement and he did not step towards the base?

 

 

By rule, a balk in both codes.

In practice, it happens so fast that as long as the pivot foot is on the ground before the ball is released, it's allowed.

You see it most often with a LH pitcher throwing to first.