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A ridiculous balk call

Posted on November 29, 2007November 30, 2007 by philipp

9 thoughts on “A ridiculous balk call”

  1. ansonas says:
    November 30, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    doesn’t show on my computer. maybe someone can fix this?

  2. Bart says:
    November 30, 2007 at 12:58 pm

    Well to me it seems like a fair call.
    From what I can make of it the game is played in germany and I’m not sure what the rules are over there. But from what I know about the rules in case of an intentional walk (seems pretty clear it is) the catcher needs to have both feet in the catcherbox before the ball is released by the pitcher otherwise the penalty is a “balk”.
    Please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not the fountain of all knowledge.

  3. Bart says:
    November 30, 2007 at 12:59 pm

    Use this link to view:
    http://www.youtube.com/v/8LnbL-WGWBE&rel=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&amp

  4. philipp says:
    November 30, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    We fixed it. The call is right, but have you ever seen an umpire to do it?

  5. Bart says:
    November 30, 2007 at 4:00 pm

    Yep seen it several times.
    But most people have no idea what’s going on when it happens.

  6. bushleaguer says:
    December 1, 2007 at 12:31 am

    good call! but a lefthanded catcher should have been thrown out the game earlier!

  7. MS5 says:
    December 3, 2007 at 7:09 pm

    Is that Austrian Umpire Oswald Tscharf in action?

  8. Greg says:
    December 19, 2007 at 10:27 am

    Sorry for joining the discussion so many weeks late.

    Bart is correct. Section 8:05(l)of The Official Rules of Baseball require that the pitcher deliver his pitch when the catcher is in the catcher’s box. If the catcher is not in the box, it’s a balk. See http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2007/08_the_pitcher.pdf.

    Having coached college ball in America for many years, I can assure you that American umpires do not hesitate to make the call. In all fairness, umpires do not require the cacther to stay put until the ball is released. The catcher can usually get away with moving a brief moment before release. The operative word is “deliver”, not “release”.

  9. justnump says:
    February 8, 2008 at 9:16 am

    Have to take a bit of exception with tagging this call ridiculous. Was a bit surprised to see the call as the field ump, but it is legitimate and have to thank Greg (above) for pointing out this rule.
    It is uncommon to have it called, but it doesn’t make any sense not to call it. Whether a team should practice an intentional base on balls is another story, but I have seen way to many ‘free-passes’ over here end up as 2-run doubles just because they pitcher and catcher don’t know how to not throw over the plate.

Comments are closed.

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