Last night at my son's game, the ump said because batter wasn't in box there was no balk. I know we've discussed this b-4, but now I am confused. Can pitcher balk if batter isn't in the batters box?
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Yes he can but it has to be an elephant balk. If it is a technical balk, it is generally ignored. What did the pitcher do to balk.
Not sure what our pitcher did. But the same thing happened to my son when he was on the hill, only the F/U called a balk when he bent down to move a rock that he noticed while waiting for the batter to get in the box. So I am trying to figure out if batter isn't in box can balk be called?
Yes it is poossible but it should be rare or very obvious. If a particular umpire is balking pitchers it is incompent on either the pitcher or manager to find out why. It is a valid question to ask and needs to be answered so you can fix the problem. Balks that would likely to be called would be dropping the ball on the rubber, stepping to first without throwing or quick pitching.