Last night Reds v. D’backs ends in a balk. The pitcher didn’t look as of he did anything special. I looked up videos and articles and I still do not understand what is a balk.
What is a balk? When is it not a balk?
In: 168
It was a balk because he raised his hand to put it in the glove (something he normally does) but then moved his hand back to its original position, then moved it to put it in the glove again. Basically, a really big ‘flinch’. When pitching, every motion has to be deliberate. If you have an itch to scratch, or wipe your hands on your pants, you have to step off the rubber first.
As of this year, that is a ‘disengagement’ and the pitcher only gets 2 per batter. if they take a third and don’t get a runner out, its an automatic balk.
Haven’t seen the best explanation yet. A balk is an attempt to deceive a runner. Every other answer in this question can fall under this one sentence.
It’s not a single rule. There are many ways to balk. Watch a video because no one will explain it to you in a way that makes sense through text.
It seems like the rule should only apply, and the runners given the next base if the pitche actually throws to a base following a false move. This would protect the runners from getting caught in the middle, while not severely punishing the pitcher with losing the game for a fairly minor mistake. Thoughts?
Once you take your position at the mound with a foot behind the thingy you arent allowed to do anything besides actually pitch.
The reason this particular play was called a balk is pretty clear to those who watch a lot of baseball, but I understand why it doesn’t make sense to those who don’t.
In this instance you can see the pitcher lift his right hand toward his glove to become “set.” Then he stops and drops his hand before making the same motion again but this time taking the ball. Once a pitcher starts his motion while in contact with the rubber he has to finish that motion. So his “double pump” is what was called a balk.
Here is the MLB rule book on balks. Specifically looking at Rule 8.01 and the second paragraph on page 75.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2007/08_the_pitcher.pdf
“Preparatory to coming to a set position, the pitcher shall have one hand on his side; from this position he shall go to his set position as defined in Rule 8.01(b) without interruption and in one continuous motion.”
The pitcher in question didn’t follow that ‘without interruption and in one continuous motion’ part of the rule and was thusly called for a balk.
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