Is it a balk or not?

Actually what you describe is a jab step. A jump step is basically the same thing but both feet move at the same time. Hwoever both are legal but are considered on the rubber moves so a feint is not legal. As long as he throws then he should be OK. I will check my USSSA books but I am 99.9 sure there is no change.

Michael,

I appreciate any information you can find to support your answer. Although the decision on
the field didn’t have any effect on the outcome of the game, I had to ask my pitchers to make adjustments during the game. I am trying to teach the kids different “pickoff moves” and would like to clarify the ruling for future games.

Thank you.

I looked through my USSSA references and see nothing that says they have made a new interp. You won't find in the book anything that says it's legal, just a note if they made it illegal.
I can apreciate you trying to teach different picks. Try using the jump step where you move both feet and it makes no difference where you land. You can also teach steping to a base from the rubber from both stretch and wind-up. They wind-up pick is very good when the runners are moving on first motion. Just make sure they don't start their hands before the step.

Michael,

Thank you again!

Regards.

I do 90% of my games under USSSA rules, what you describe is not a balk under any rule set. IMO.

I will add; the short comings and challenges with USSSA umpires is simply this, lack of baseball experience. USSSA is deeply rooted in softball and fast pitch. The quick and rather large expansion into baseball has forced SB and FP umpires into the baseball arena. I have witnessed this numerous times, and am working diligently to correct this in my local area, with training sessions, videos, etc. etc. My particular association is regularly called on for FP and SP umpires around the state as well as national/regional tournaments. We have 3 working a world tournament this very weekend, and historically have 3-5 umpires a year work this level of play around the country. But, of our 55-60 members only 8-10 have ever, or are willing to work BB, our great state of Wa. has in the past 3 years gone from about 50 USSSA baseball teams to nearing 200 this year, you can see the challenge this presents in supplying quality BB umpires.
We had two of our umpires work the world BB tournaments in Florida last year, they came home with the same stories you share in your post. USSSA is a great oganization, they can and do put teams on the field, run well organized tournaments, but as with any quickly expanding venture, growing pains are evident.
Working on it..

I concur completely with the growing pains. I see many guys working levels they have no business working. As a result they quote rules that don't exist, exist in other codes or are from softball.

I have said this many times on many forums that officials shouldn't work both baseball and softball. Very few work at a high level in either sport when they work both. They can work both but I don't think they advance as far as their abilities would take them in either.

There are a couple of very good thoughts and statements in the last 2 posts by JJk and MST and I'd like to take a few seconds to address them.....

JJK thanks so much for seeing the problem and then working from the inside to correct it. There is so much good that can be done from the inside.......far too often umpires attempt to distance themselves from the very root of the problems that haunt us all.

Hanging in there taking the lumps brought on by the lesser trained and helping those that will listen, get better is admirable. I know that MST and I , who both train umpires, appreciate it immensely.....

MST and I agree on most things, so this make this easy.......I know a number of officials who call both baseball and softball.....Of the officials I know, if they call both sports they are not at the top of either sport as an official......I believe that baseball especially requires your total committment to ascend to the higher levels.......


good calls by both of you.........