Balk
What is the rule exactly?
Balk
There was an interesting discussion on one of my YouTube shorts the other day.
I uploaded this clip of Joaquín Andújar, famous St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who was then with the Oakland Athletics. He gets in a set position, spins in one motion, throws to first base, and is called for a balk.
My question is pretty simple: was this a balk?
The comments section is divided on the issue. Some say that he performed a legitimate “jump” move. Some say that he never came set (which I think is obviously contradicted by the footage). Some say that he came off the rubber before throwing.
I’m interested in knowing precisely what the rule was.
The reason is because the balk rule has always been contentious. It’s also notoriously unclear, as the famous /r/baseball copypasta shows us:
Balk Rules
1) You can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can't do that.
1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can't be over here and say to the runner, like, "I'm gonna get ya! I'm gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!" and then just be like he didn't even do that.
1c-b(1). Like, if you're about to pitch and then don't pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there's the balk you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn't been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn't typecast as that racist lady in American History X.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). "get in mah bellah" -- Adam Water, "The Waterboy." Haha, classic...
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of
2) Do not do a balk please.
After reading through the memes, I decided to take a look at the 1986 Sporting News guide for help:
Unfortunately, The Sporting News no longer included the official rules in the baseball guide by that point. It was actually in a separate publication:
This is the 1987 edition, as you can see. However, I know that the balk rule didn’t change between 1986 and 1987. We should be safe using this.
This is the relevant section:
Let’s take a look at Andújar’s move and see how it compares to these rules.
According to section (a), Andújar was not allowed to “make any motion naturally associated with his pitch” while failing to pitch. I’d argue that he clearly did not make any natural pitching motion here.
He actually threw to first, so section (b) doesn’t apply.
There’s no question that he stepped towards first base before throwing. Section (c) does not apply here — though many in the comments section have claimed that it does. In particular — Andújar does not spin. He makes a clear step towards first base before throwing there. Watch it slowly for yourself.
He threw to first base, so (d) does not apply.
He did not make an illegal pitch (i.e. a “quick pitch”), so (e) does not apply.
He threw to first base, so (f) does not apply.
It’s very difficult to see the rubber from the camera angle. I presume that (g) does not apply, because he does not make any natural pitching motion.
He didn’t delay the game, so (h) doesn’t apply. By the way, if umpires had actually enforced section (h), we might not have had to come up with the stupid engagement rules we have today.
Andújar did not feint a pitch, so (i) does not apply.
I’m not entirely sure I know what (j) is referring to. He held onto the ball here and threw to first, so it doesn’t apply.
He didn’t drop the ball, so (k) doesn’t apply.
Part (l) also clearly does not apply.
He also clearly came to a stop, so (m) does not apply.
My interpretation here is that Andújar did not balk. The more I read and the more I watch, the more that move looks legal to me. In fact, it wasn’t even a great move to first.
Let me know what you think.
Ugh I HATE the balk rule so much. It's been horribly broken and horribly complained about since before I was born (according to my father and his father).
The /r/baseball copypasta is funny because it's true. There's no consistency to when umpires call balks and most of the calls literally seem random.
I would replace all of 8.05 with something like this:
1) To deliver a legal pitch, the pitcher must begin their motion with one foot on the pitcher plate and one foot on the ground in front of the pitcher plate.
2) If the front foot is lifted off the ground before the back foot is lifted from the pitcher plate, the pitcher must throw home. Any other throw is a balk.
That's it. To throw to a base you would have to lift your back foot off the rubber — or throw without lifing either foot. This rule is a bit stricter than the current rule in some ways, but much more permissive in other ways. On balance it might raise steals a little bit but I really don't know. We'd have to test it. (I originally wrote this rule before the 2024 rule changes.) The important thing is that it would entirely eliminate any confusion about balks.
The balk rule is maddening and MLB needs to fix it. They've shown a willingness to fix pace of play and they are even using robo-umps in the minor leagues. They need to come up with a couple of better balk rules and test them in the minors. And then we can finally stop arguing about what a balk is and die happy.
He does not step toward first base. This is clearly a balk in my opinion. He must step ahead of the throw.