This is a balk... right?

Well I don't know if it's a baUlk or not because the video won't play for me.  It just freezes up.  But I do believe a real baseball person won't ever try this because.....

1.  He can't even spell balk right

2.  Unless things have changed 45 degree isn't even mentioned in the NFHS rule book - you just have to gain ground

3.  He's illustrating this on a cow pasture

The arm movement in the video makes it a balk.

the 45* is mentioned in the HS case book 6-2-4 Situation B

What is the problem with the arm movement?

It's a balk because he didn't step towards the base to which he was throwing. If you use the 45 (which doesn't really matter, F1 needs to gain distance and direction) it would be for a throw to 3rd, not 2nd.

When I see something "new" or a "trick" in a game that has been played for well over a hundred years, I always look at it with a critical eye.

I guess it depends on the rule set, but I saw this as a feint to third from the rubber - not a balk in NFHS, but still...

While I am no Umpire, I do not see this as a feint to third, simply because he made no feint toward third, by definition.  He rotates to the outside, which is towards home plate and the hitter, not toward third.  Now, if he rotated the opposite direction, I may buy the feint.

Not a balk under FED rules, but the first instinct of many umps might be to call balk before realizing that it isn't. I use an inside move to second with a runner stealing from first all the time and, believe it or not, most umpires are quite familiar with the fact that isn't a balk. Notice that he says his pitchers have a mound conference before hand and sort of force the ump to come break it up. At that time, they give him a heads up. I'm sure it will drive the oppo coach crazy, but it's not a balk under NCAA or FED.

BALK!  Step was more toward home than third and upper body and arm movement was toward the plate without delivering the pitch.  The red line that the narrator used on the mound to indicate the 45 degree angle isn't even close.   I don't know of any umpire worth his salt who wouldn't call a balk for that move even if the pitcher gave him a "heads up" before attempting it.

All you need to feint toward third is to step toward third (and not make any motion associated with your pitch).  When throwing to second, you can rotate either way.

what he tried to do: 1) feint toward third by stepping there, 2) break contact with the rubber (although that's not really needed in FED) and become an infielder, 3) throw to second.

It's just a variation on the 3-1 play.

he just made it "too tricky"

If the ump doesn't call a balk I'm on the field and likely ejected....lol.   The 45 degree line was closer to 25....and the guy stepped right on it.  No way he gets away with that at any level. 

So in a sense - aside from where he stepped - in FED it would be a legal move, but not where OBR is used?

I'd balk this move every time......FED or OBR.....

I'm no umpire, even though I get asked a lot of rules questions, but I'd be hollering balk from the stands if it was pulled against my team. lol

While I agree that in the video, that angle of step is going to get you balked on "not stepping toward the base feinted to," suppose he had made the step better, under what FED rule would you justify a balk call? Noting, of course, that the question is moot under OBR.

NFHS 6-2-4B- The pitcher on the pitchers plate must step with this non-pivot foot directly toward a base occupied or unoccupied when throwing or legally feinting....Penalty- Balk

(Above emphasis is mine).....I am the judge of what "directly towards" is to be legal on game day...and that video is not even close....even giving some leeway of say more towards 3rd than home, he isn't even close to a legal move for me.

If you try to stretch the rule, you leave it to my interpretation of how much stretch I agree to....

I agree as to this video. i first saw this quite awhile ago and my first thought was that, while the idea is decent, the delivery here is way out of wack with what I understand the intention to be.

there are relatively no new ideas in baseball.........were it legal, it would be have been seen before.......have you ever seen that move anywhere outside of that video?....

a number of years ago, a HS pitcher with more than average skills, was using a delivery that in many opinions was like a crow hop..and was being balked regularly...I believe they took it all the way to NFHS.....

The delivery was a sort of leap from the rubber with a release of the ball several feet in front of the rubber...NFHS ruled it illegal....NCAA ruled it illegal.....and the pitcher went on to college using a sucessful standard delivery.....

piaa.....was that the kid from Hillsborough County?  I remember watching the Hillsborough/Pinellas All Star game and seeing a kid throw like that.

As of last year, this would not be allowed in OBR because it's now illegal to feint to third.  Some youth leagues have NOT adopted that rule change.  In those leagues, and in NCAA, it would be legal (in a general sense) to feint to third, break contact, then throw to second.

Sorry its been too long, I just cant remember where......could have been...I know we talked about it here ......but that was years ago.....

 I found it....

This was back in 2004 in Texas......

The Player was named Guerra who played for Denton Ryan High School. He had a crow hop delivery. His delivery was very controversial. I believe perfect game had a video of him and his delivery.

“It was reported that the delivery had more than a couple of scouts and coaches questioning whether it is legal per baseball rules or not. At least one coach sent in film to the NCAA for a ruling before he decided to start recruiting him. What he did was comparable to what a women’s softball pitcher does prior to release, except with a standard ¾’s release point. He takes a hard, big hop off his back (right) leg at the point when he starts coming forward in his delivery, lands hard on his front (left) leg and completes his arm stroke with his right leg probably a foot in front of the pitching rubber. While every pitcher looses contact with the rubber before he throws the ball, His action is so severe and exaggerated that there is little, if any, precedent for it at this level.”

I remember looking at the utube video and taking the above quote from the young man’s profile. I would have, of course abided by any interpretation that the NCAA would have ruled on, but until that time, I saw the move as a balk....They did as well.....

The pitcher did not continue to use this delivery in college......