I believe there was a slight mistake... When dropping the ball, I was under the impression that you couldn't be standing on the rubber, but you said it is a balk when you come set, please elaborate.

thanks!

Great point. Rare skill.

Yes, his communication skills are impeccable.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Yes - well explained

I’m the same, and a newish umpire at that. I’ve warned players when baseball umpiring for balking in the lower levels and half the time the coaches don’t know all the rules then come asking and complaining. This video was really helpful

Yes, outstanding video. Every new umpire, pitcher, and coach should see it. Would have made my earlier umpiring days a lot more smooth.

@@eauhomme be careful being a new umpire. there are some information here that will get you in trouble.

Glad it was helpful! I'm actually putting together a resources page on my website so schools can link to it, that will have all my fundamental videos in a big outline. I'll send it out to my email list when it's complete - you can sign up in the description if you're interested. Thanks for watching!

I was unable to watch this

100% - thanks for the kind words!

I get it now your explanation and the gentlemen in this video it makes sense now thanks

Ultimately it is about deception. You just have to call anything that could lead to it.

Glad it helped!

I loved this comment. To me, it comes from a 'true' competitor. It's not about 'getting over it', it's about 'what?'. Thanks for taking the time to post that, James!

You're very welcome!

thanks for the kind words!

I love it when an exaggerated movement backfires, because you're just like... yeah. That. That's what you're supposed to do. Do that. Boy do they get steamed.

You're so cool

That is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire. Pitchers and coaches need to adjust. The problem is neither the pitcher, nor the coach understand the rules.

@@standyer7482 any rules that requires judgement or is open to interpretation should not be a rule.

@@ba_brisk So no ball/strike calls or safe/out calls? All calls are up to the judgment of an umpire. The strike zone is open to interpretation. So is the infield fly rule (What is "ordinary effort?")

if you step off youre a regular fielder and do anything you want.

By that umps logic, pitcher can't ever try and stop a steal by throwing to the base the runner is attempting to steal. That's an umpire who needs a LOT more training.

Glad it was helpful!

its not really that subjective

Glad it was helpful!

Glad it was helpful!

I'm not following - if the home team was winning, why were they playing the bottom of the last inning?

@@dgaubin because he made the whole scenario up. People on KZfaq are weird like that. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s never actually umpired a game of Baseball.

good additions to the conversation - thank you!

You can’t be within 5 feet of the rubber without the ball in NFHS and OBR you can’t be on the mound.

@@jpup6006 Do you know the nfhs rule number for this? I had it come up in high school and I couldn't find it. I'm sure if I took enough time, but if you know... thanks

@@MH-Tesla 6.2.5

@@jpup6006 Dude, you are a rock star. That was quick. I checked and see thar I literally circled that phrase in my rule book. (Which I do when I read something different from little league rules of which I'm most familiar. )

This comment should absolutely be pinned to the top of the comments....This fake to 3rd and throw to 1st situation with the variances between the rulebooks needs to stop. Coaches, players and yes, even a few umpires still do not understand that in 2022 this move is legal under NFHS high school rules and a balk under NCAA and OBR pro rules. I work a dozen games a week across a variety of levels and this rule causes more problems then anything else in the rules of baseball. Can anyone provide a rational explanation of why NFHS is still allowing this when the other leagues are not? And while we're at it, let's decide if a balk is or is not an immediate dead ball across all codes too, please...

you learn by doing - thats baseball, and life. Baseball is really complicated so as much as videos can help, learning through failing is still huge.

The balk was the pitcher not receiving the sigh from the catcher with his pivot foot on the rubber. I know that some fans here may not understand the situation.

Relatively rare? Angel Hernandez? Joe West? Robo ump for strikes and balls. No excuses, these days, for 80% zone consistency.

Thank you 🙏🏻

thanks! Appreciate the kind words

I'm a first year umpire for little league, and I've gone back to this video several times to get the concepts locked in my head. Great resource.

Thank you! I did some coaching overseas in Turkey and it brought into perspective just how complex baseball rules can be for true beginners, so this one was meant to help those starting out. Glad you thought it measured up 👊🏻

Good luck!

@@DanBlewett your mostly right on all the balks. Except the facing the batter thing. But this is to be expected from a coach/player/fan, who "thinks" they know the rules. You say "suppose" a couple times, and also, you mention asking other coaches etc. Did you ask a collegiate umpire etc? That way you get the correct information. Not supposing or guessing. Almost all players, coaches, think they know the rules, or an idea etc. And almost always, they are off. This rule, (not in the college rules btw), means either in one of two positions, wind-up or set, facing. If you deliver the pitch, legally, you can be looking anywhere. There is no rule to support, exactly, what your saying. That at some point, you have to "look back" No verbiage in the rule book on this either. If your legal on wind-up or set, you can look wherever you want. The next section, again, nothing in the book about your "right foot has to be the one that moves first" , Again, nothing in any of the rule sets (mlb, collegiate, HS), that supports this. The only thing on this, its referred to as a "step balk" or a buckle. A righthander, is making a pick to first, cant buckle his non pivot first, THEN spin and pick. As that initial buckle, is a movement considered as starting the motion to pitch. In any rule set, pitcher, in trying to pick, cant make any movement associated with his delivery, in this case, a knee buckle, then pause, and then spin to first. As the initial movement of the knee, on the non pivot, indicates starting a pitching motion. It all has to be in one movement. This is very difficult for umpires to get, at any level. But there is nothing about the right foot (or left foot for a lefty, having to move first) and, nothing in the rule books about the 45 degrees etc. Book says throw directly to the base. So, the "interpretation", as an umpire, a guide, is to use the halfway point of the baseline, yes the 45. But this isnt in the book. This is especially used for a lefty. As they can get away with more, as far as the step. Since its difficult for the umpire to judge, where his non pivot lands in that throw to first. So usually, the lefty has to really blow past that point, to get called for that type of balk Seek out a high level umpire in your area, and get the proper meanings, and verbiage

@@chuckfan1 Jesus Christ settle down all he did is say "suppose"

@@loganstevens2688 Dude... Im settled... And, this is social media... comments are part of the deal.. dont like it? move on And yeah, all he did was say "suppose" , but all this leads to mis-information getting out there, and leads to players/coaches/announcers/fans not knowing the rules, or thinking they know the rules, or only knowing part of a rule. I umpire here in So Cal, college.. so I take this stuff seriously. Im buried in the rule book all the time, and know how this stuff goes. So if you want to say Im worked up, or not settled, ok.. but not the case Im passionate about this, and what I do.. And if I can pass on intel, that is actually correct, and someone learns something, it can only help, with interaction betwixt umpires and those involved in the game Especially when it comes to rules, and the interpretations thereof..

glad it's helped and thanks for the comment

you're welcome!

One that I've seen is that the pitcher will step on the rubber in the wind up. He will then step off while at the same time moving his arms up like he's doing his normal windup and try to pick off a runner at third. That's a balk for making a motion naturally associated with your pitch while off the rubber.

Greinke = goat

I once worked a tournament and was on the bases for this game. The coach came up to me just before the game and tipped me off that his lefty had a great pickoff move, so I'd better be ready for runners to get picked. I knew what to expect, and I wasn't disappointed. The pitcher does a huge leg kick well behind the rubber, Dontrelle Willis style, fires it to first, and I call the balk. The coach comes unglued. "What do you mean he can't bring his leg back like that? He's been doing that for a couple years and he's never been called for a balk!"

🤣🤣🤣

Glad it was helpful!

yeah thats a good example that happens a lot in the youth world! Thanks for sharing!

yes you can step off any time before delivering the ball - good question!

@@DanBlewett Awesome! Yeah, no one has really been able to answer this question--I usually have to ask an umpire before the game if I'm allowed to do that, and some say yes, while others no, lol

@@cesarvargasdesign This is legal to step off while you're coming set.

Ive seen a number of pitchers do a tap like that - Jason Motte did it in the Big Leagues. It's not a balk provided they do it the same way every single time. It's part of his motion to the plate just like his leg kick, and it's not stopping his delivery or changing his direction of momentum or anything. If he only did it some of the time, it would get called.

@@DanBlewett that’s exactly what I told the coach complaining. Thank you for your reply. But wanted to make sure I was not missing anything

@@DanBlewett Bill Risley, I believe, also did that. He'd lift his leg, pull the hand out of the glove at precisely the same moment, then tap it and pitch. It was a timing device and helped him greatly with his control.

Glad I could help

i dont think so. stepping to third or second, you can fake, and the pitcher becomes a normal fielder after that, basically, so they can do whatever.

If the runner is stealing to 2nd, it would not be a balk to do the inside move to 2nd. However, the best course of action is simply for the pitcher to step off, then he can do all of the same things anyway. In those situations, its best just to step off and throw to the SS, who can see both runners in front of him. The inside move doesnt really improve anything, I think

I believe he can spin and throw to 2nd if there is a play, the risk is if a runner fakes and doesn’t go you’d have a balk.

@@DanBlewett I believe you cannot inside move to 2B because it is not occupied. Otherwise a Righty could do a slow leg kick, get the runner jumping, then inside move to 2B. My understanding is that a base is occupied at the beginning of the sequence. If a runner is stealing 2B you cannot throw to 2B because it is not yet occupied. Would love your thoughts on that. Great video.

@@brianfischer3714 He went over that in the video. You are allowed to fake or throw to an unoccupied base for the purpose of making a play at all levels. So if the runner is stealing, yes, all you have to do is the inside move and throw to second and it's 100% legal. Chad, your OP is legal. You don't have to throw it directly to the base like you do first base. You can throw it to the SS or 2B without issue.

nah its really not hard

thanks for watching! Just finished a video about the infield fly rule, which also confuses beginners.

@@DanBlewett The point is, there is structure and there is an order to rules in baseball and they are only truly understood when the one teaching understands that structure and order. Don't deceive the runner, or batter for that matter. Your job is to serve up the ball so that it may be put into play.

Glad it was helpful!

check out this article, which has a number of videos: danblewett.com/left-handed-pick-off-moves/

That is awesome!

The rule for the MLB is 6.02a9: "The pitcher, without having the ball, stands on or astride the pitcher’s plate..." But in reality, pitchers typically just stay off the mound completely.

Yeah it would have been nice to demonstrate some lefty moves, but too difficult here - Pettite's move was usually legal, but so good that is was just barely legal most of the time.

@@DanBlewett When I was a kid it was Steve Carlton I always thought got the benefit of the doubt on his famed pick off move. Great channel.

thanks for watching!