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Here is the situation:

Runners on second and third with two outs. Defense decides to intentionally walk the batter to load the bases. As the pitcher was preparing to the deliver a pitch, runner on third steals home. Pitcher gets rattled during the steal and umpire calls balk. (The runner was already sliding into home when the balk was called so there was never an attempt to throw the runner out).

Once balk was called defensive coach argues no balk was made. Long story short, the umpire reverses his call and says it wasn’t a balk. And even though the runner on third scored without the balk call he had to go back to third base. He said when he called the balk the play was dead so the runner couldn’t advance.

Okay, I’m admittedly bias on this one… the runner stealing home was the go ahead run in the last inning of a championship game, however I can’t understand how an umpire can basically say, I changed my mind so it’s a “do over”.

Can anyone explain the logic or if this is the way it should have been called.

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quote:
Originally posted by jerseydad:
Here is the situation:

Runners on second and third with two outs. Defense decides to intentionally walk the batter to load the bases. As the pitcher was preparing to the deliver a pitch, runner on third steals home. Pitcher gets rattled during the steal and umpire calls balk. (The runner was already sliding into home when the balk was called so there was never an attempt to throw the runner out).

Once balk was called defensive coach argues no balk was made. Long story short, the umpire reverses his call and says it wasn’t a balk. And even though the runner on third scored without the balk call he had to go back to third base. He said when he called the balk the play was dead so the runner couldn’t advance.

Okay, I’m admittedly bias on this one… the runner stealing home was the go ahead run in the last inning of a championship game, however I can’t understand how an umpire can basically say, I changed my mind so it’s a “do over”.

Can anyone explain the logic or if this is the way it should have been called.


Is this a HS game? In other words a game played under NFHS rules?
Well, I'll try.

When you say the pitcher was "preparing to deliver a pitch," I assume you mean he was in his windup or was committed to the plate if he was pitching from the stretch.

Under OBR, the only time the ball is NOT immediately dead on a balk is if the pitcher delivers a pitch or makes a pickoff throw and throws it away. Since neither of those two things happened, the ball is dead and the balk is enforced.

Now the umpire calls off the balk. I don't think he can un-kill the ball however, since the only way it can be made live again is for the pitcher to be on the rubber and the umpire calls "play."

So I think the runner has to go back to 3rd (his Time Of Pitch base).
Last edited by dash_riprock
quote:
Originally posted by jerseydad:
So any other insight from the esteemed umpires that frequent this thread?


Well, it's hard to know where to begin. First, a balk is not a deadball in OBR, under which this game was played. Since the B/R did not advance, the balk should have initially been enforced.

Second, one would have to have been there to see whether or not a balk should have been called. I don't know why the comment about "never an attempt to throw the runner out" was included since that is irrelevant to whether or not a balk was committed. Usually when R3 gets a pitcher flustered, the pitcher either steps off incorrectly or makes a move toward home and doesn't complete it. But one can't tell from what was posted.

In the best case, the call was poorly handled and provides an excellent example of why calls should rarely be reversed.
Thanks to all that responded.

Jimmy03, the comment about never making an attempt to throw the runner out was because the pitcher stopped in the middle of his wind up and came off the mound holding the ball. It wasn't until the runner was sliding in to home that the umpire called the balk.

Bottom line... it was a bad situation but all involved get to play again so its not the end of the world.
Last edited by jerseydad

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