I'm a Reds fan and wins are few and far between this year but this seems like a nit picky call.

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/...-on-10th-inning-balk

It might seem 'nit picky' but it was an immediate and definitive call be the Umpire. I can only assume that the motion with the glove was, in the mind of the Umpire, the start of the delivery motion and that when the Pitcher stopped, the Umpire called the Balk. You would need to have watched the Pitcher previously during that game to know what his normal delivery motion was in order to have a definitive opinion, and obviously the Umpire is in a position to do that.

Regardless, a call's a call...

Did he balk? Technically, Yes.
Would any ump worth his salt ever opt to end a game on such a fine line call? Not a chance.

This ump is going to catch major hell for that call and a huge lack of judgment.

It was a balk. If he did that with his glove every time he starts his delivery, the ump would’ve let it go.

That seemed a bit like an unconscious move like his glove slipped off a bit. Technically a balk but very nit-picky.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
It was a balk. If he did that with his glove every time he starts his delivery, the ump would’ve let it go.

You know how many times umps 'could' call a balk during an MLB season but don't? An umpire's job is to manage the game, not to take the game out of the hands of the teams on the field, especially in the 9th inning of a close game. I'd have had some measure of understanding of the ump's decision had the balk been blatant or obvious. But as I noted previously, technically the pitcher did balk, but just barely, and certainly not in any way that Dave Bell or his coaches would have objected had the balk not been called. Long story short, the ump showed bad judgement on this one.

That’s a shitty call. I’m a traditionalist but even I’m getting sick of umpires and ridiculous calls.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
It was a balk. If he did that with his glove every time he starts his delivery, the ump would’ve let it go.

You know how many times umps 'could' call a balk during an MLB season but don't? An umpire's job is to manage the game, not to take the game out of the hands of the teams on the field, especially in the 9th inning of a close game. I'd have had some measure of understanding of the ump's decision had the balk been blatant or obvious. But as I noted previously, technically the pitcher did balk, but just barely, and certainly not in any way that Dave Bell or his coaches would have objected had the balk not been called. Long story short, the ump showed bad judgement on this one.

I used to pitch, so I know what is and what isn’t a balk. The pitcher is a Major League pitcher, and it’s not rec ball. He knows once he is engaged on the rubber that he can’t make moves like that with runners on base. Pitchers get more latitude when runners aren’t on base.

We’ll just have to agree to disagree.

Technically, the correct call I believe.

Cheesedick, but correct.

In my limited understanding, the balk call is an attempt to maintain a fair assessment of the intent of the pitcher by the runners.

In this case, a runner on third would likely never seek to advance in a tie game in the 10th, during a pitcher’s normal motion to pitch to the batter.

So, the motion of the gloved hand, followed by stepping off the rubber, would to the third base runner be a curiosity, but not a reason to dash home. With the winning run in scoring position, the runner on first with an open base might seek to steal second to avoid a double play, since there were no outs. The pitcher’s motion and step off could affect the decision of that base runner.

In view of the potential to unfairly influence the first base runner, perhaps the home plate umpire made the call. It appears that the second base umpire reached a similar balk conclusion; hard to say for sure.

Baseball is a game where rules seek to ensure equity. I think this balk rule, and its application, are clearly NOT equitable. I would change the rule to move any base runner and the batter forward one base, except if that motion would result in a run. If the bases were loaded, and a balk occurred, I would require a fourth out of the pitcher, to close an inning. Giving a team a run because of a deceptive move seems unfair to the fielding team.

Since baseball is about numbers...

There are nearly 2,500 MLB games in a year including the postseason. There are maybe five calls a year that really create controversy.

0.2% percent of games.

Doesn't make it suck any less when it happens, but I'm also in the group that think he got it right.

I'm a lifelong Reds fan. I watched the entire game.
I guess it was a correct call but I didn't like seeing it end that way.

Damn. Hell of a way to win a close game.

I think it was a balk...but...damn.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Baseball is a game where rules seek to ensure equity. I think this balk rule, and its application, are clearly NOT equitable. I would change the rule to move any base runner and the batter forward one base, except if that motion would result in a run. If the bases were loaded, and a balk occurred, I would require a fourth out of the pitcher, to close an inning. Giving a team a run because of a deceptive move seems unfair to the fielding team.

We'll call that 'offsides', right? If you're not going to call it there, why call it anywhere? I suspect the ump saw something before that & finally caught it. The 1st balk is rarely called because you're usually like 'WTF was that?'

I don't think it was intentional, but squirrelly shit with your glove/feet when your on the rubber is going to get a balk. It's not just baiting them to run, it's baiting them to hold, which could make a big difference in that situation. A half-step hesitation could have been the difference between a 4-3-2 double play to end the inning or a walk off FC/RBI or SAC. It's also akin to 'banging a trash can' if the reds had a squeeze on.

Honestly, the balk is THE hardest rule in baseball for me to understand. The crowd calls for a balk in almost every game, and the call is not made (so they don’t understand either). Then, a balk IS called and I’m thinking, “What? What’d he do?” In theory, I know the rule, in practice, nah

Yep. I used to pitch and the coach hassled me about that a lot. Never got that called in a game, but that was not professional baseball.

Change is coming. 2024 is planned for the introduction of robotic umpires making calls at the plate.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/...league-baseball-2024

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
That’s a shitty call. I’m a traditionalist but even I’m getting sick of umpires and ridiculous calls.

As a Cincy native, let me just say that with the way our season has been going so far, please just let us have this one. I’m not convinced it wasn’t a pity call anyway!

- Bret

Umpires don't do 'pity calls' and they don't do 'make up calls' either! You call it like you see it...Period. As a Umpire, you're there to enforce the Rule Book impartially! When actions by players 'catch your eye' you home in on them to look for potential infractions. And sometime you see things that impact the game!

Unless it's an outright 'Bad Call', it's typically not the Umpires call that 'takes the game out of the hands of the teams on the field', it's the actions of the player(s) that do so!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
Unless it's an outright 'Bad Call', it's typically not the Umpires call that 'takes the game out of the hands of the teams on the field', it's the actions of the player(s) that do so!

Are you talking about Don Denkinger?