List of all the balks: 0:06 Either Started & Stopped or Stumbled 0:21 Dropped the baseball 0:36 "Catcher's Balk" Catcher illegally stopped the baseball with his mask. 0:53 Front leg broke when picking off at first base. 1:07 Stepped off with pitching leg 1:15 Started & Stopped 1:29 Fake throw to first base. Was going to throw to first, but then realized first baseman was not covering the bag. 1:44 Unknown 1:55 Comes set twice 2:05 Started & Stopped. Was very sure he didn't mean to do that. 2:22 Stumbled 2:34 Comes set twice 2:45 Front leg broke when picking off at first base. 3:02 Does not come set. 3:17 Front leg stepped more toward home plate when picking off at first base 3:28 Front leg stepped more toward home plate when picking off at first base 3:39 Pick off at first when pitcher doesn't realize the first baseman was not covering the bag. 3:53 Started & Stopped 4:11 Does not come set 4:26 Front leg broke when picking off at first base. 4:33 Started & Stopped. Somehow, the balk was not called. 4:44 Started & Stopped 5:00 Does not come set 5:11 Quick Pitch 5:26 Started & Stopped 5:43 Started & Stopped 6:00 Third Base runner faked a break for home plate making the pitcher step off with his pitching leg. 6:17 First Base runner takes off for second base making the pitcher step off with his pitching leg. 6:29 Stepped off with pitching leg 6:43 Stumbled 6:54 Stepped off with pitching leg 7:11 Started & Stopped 7:22 Flinched his shoulders??? 7:37 Stumbled 7:55 Started & Stopped 8:12 Fake throw to first base. Was going to throw to first, but then realized first baseman was not covering the bag. 8:27 Started & Stopped 8:38 Started & Stopped??? 8:53 Third Base runner faked a break for home plate making the pitcher step off with his pitching leg. 9:09 Started & Stopped 9:20 Started & Stopped 9:38 Started & Stopped 9:53 Does not come set before picking off at first base. 10:07 Either Started & Stopped or Stepped off with pitching leg 10:22 Broke his front leg when checking at first base 10:39 Flinched his back leg 10:54 Started & Stopped??? 11:10 Started & Stopped 11:25 Started & Stopped 11:40 Started & Stopped 11:58 Started & Stopped. Catcher tried to call time, but it was too late. 12:14 Started & Stopped 12:31 Fake throw to first base. Was going to throw to first, but then realized first baseman was not covering the bag. 12:41 Started & Stopped 12:59 Either Started & Stopped or Stepped off with pitching leg 13:10 Comes set twice 13:21 Possibly stepped off with pitching leg 13:32 Front leg stepped more toward home plate when picking off at third base 13:52 Possibly stepped off with pitching leg
0:36 is not a balk. It is a detached equipment violation. 1:07 was a balk but not for stepping off with pivot foot. Stepping off with the "pitching leg" is the only legal way to step off.9:53 there is no requirement to come set when picking to a base. 5:11 was not a quick pitch. It was a balk for not pausing. You spent a lot of time compiling this but you got many wrong.
1:44 Jomboy covered this and it was an intentional balk because the runner on 2nd might've been stealing the catcher's signs, and they were one out away from winning anyway. So the guy who put this video together clearly doesn't actually do research or anything.
@@faceones I know the rules. You should learn them. You should also read the balk rules. Using the mask to stop the ball is a detached equipment violation. It is not a balk. You are not nearly as smart as you think you are.
it's true. balks can be super subtle, so it's important to be emphatic. it very much feels like a gotcha moment, because as soon as the pitcher toes the rubber, you need to watch him like a hawk. some of these calls may have been wrong, for example a pitcher simply taking a deep breath, but from certain angles they might look like other calls that were right, like when he starts coming up after getting his sign and then stopping.
Lol. @29proto covered the first reason: you want everyone to know that a balk just happened. Sometimes people are focused in on something else and you have to be really loud to be heard. Second reason is that they are rare, but as an umpire you're constantly having to watch the pitcher for them. So when you see one you're thinking, "Oh my God. I think...did he just...I think he did...play it cool...OH MY GOD! HE DID!" and then you are all, "THAT'S A BALK!!!" Like you just saw a sasquatch or something.
You're right. I hear everyone calling it a catchers balk but that doesn't exist. Its the illegal use of detached equipment and because it happens on a pitched ball the award is one base to all runners. So same result as a balk but there is no such thing as a catchers balk.
@@isaaccaldwell6452 A catcher's balk does exist, but it is a rare call where the catcher jumps in front of the plate during a pitch, denying the batter the opportunity to swing at the pitch. Much more common is catcher's interference, where the catcher places his glove in the patch of the bat.
@@isaaccaldwell6452 a catcher's balk is when the catcher leaves the catcher's box before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. this call happens on pitch-outs or intentional walks from time to time.
Meanwhile Jansen having a seizure every time he's on the mound is never called a balk... Swear to god the Dodgers get away with so fucking much it's unbelievable
@@samiam619 I'm talking about his twitching while he pitches, regardless of RISP. His wind up is literally a balk but because it's part of the wind up it's never called as a balk. His intentional balks, without fail, are him dropping the ball.
It has to be because it's easy to deceive a runner into advancing too soon if the pitcher is allowed to move as much as he want's after coming set or faking a throw to 1st with one on covering the bag only to get caught in a game of pickle. That said this is a long video of balks that didn't all happen in the same year. Balks aren't very common and typically are the result of a lapse of communication/focus/and sometimes just being clumsy.
2:34 Announcers kill me. It's a balk because he comes set (complete stop with hands together in front of the body) at about shoulder level, then does a bit of a shrug (moving his hands in the process) and stops again, then delivers. Sorry, but you can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that. Literally the first rule of balks.
The short-short version is once the pitcher is set (foot on the rubber) his only motion has to be part of his wind up or throw to a base. The umps watch the pitchers wind up inning after inning, game after game, so they know the instant something isn't part of their pitch. The rule is there, or so is my understanding, so base runners can't get tricked into trying to steal and the batter knows to get ready for the ball. The problem is, as this video points out, breathing is enough to get called *if the umpire feels like it*. Since ultimately it's a judgement call. Pitchers with unorthodox wind ups are heavily punished. In the end, it's like running out of the baseline. Sometimes it's painfully obvious and other times you have to wonder if the umpires are calling it for revenge or to make up for a previously blown call.
@@Nightenstaff None of these are balks because the guy was breathing. The balk on Folty was because in taking his breath, his upper body raised as if he were getting set. That is patently a balk. Without fail you can always find people with a short understanding of a complicated rule thinking the rule is stupid because every once in a while, something is included that seems harmless. But when was the last time you saw a balk in a live game? There have been nearly 160,000 batters faced in this as yet incomplete season. There have also been 140 balks. Even if a percentage of those were incorrectly called, that is not worth changing a rule that the vast majority of pitchers are just fine keeping to. And if this video is anything to go by, yeah, all of those balks were correctly called.
It's really easy to know when a balk has occured. Nothing the pitcher does is different, but the ump calling it has just remembered that runners start on second in extras now, and needs to take out his frustration like anyone else does
Compilations like this are enjoyable, but balks are actually pretty rare. A starter may throw 2000 pitches in the course of a season but only balk once or twice.
I'd say that's almost as bad as watching two 100+mph pitchers who were pretty consistent for 162 games plus playoffs suddenly forget the strike zone exists. - 2010 & 2011
The Jansen clip is terribly edited - you left out the part where he's very clearly trying to get one called cause he doesn't want the runner on second stealing signs, and worse yet you left out the actual balk. Come on.
8:27....I know my calls, and saw all the others....but I didn't see that balk...was it the switch from leaned over to up, i didn't see a twitch, or a misdirection....
i may be sick in the head but i'm obsessed with these balk compilations XD may be my OCD nature but i love seeing marginal rules being enforced so strictly.
??? Please explain… are you saying Pitchers should do whatever they want & in the process slowing games down even more trying to hold on or get runners out? There is a lot of dumb rules in sport but this isn’t one of them.
@@andrewreid895 - There's a pitch clock, right? I'm not talking about the GLARING stuff. I'm talking about the ticky-tack bullshit, like how stretching your shoulder can be a balk if your hand happens to move forward. Or how if you slip during your windup, balk. Or any of the other myriad of things that in NO way help the game get out of its own way of micromanagement.
There’s no pitch clock with runners on base. I’m not sure what the big deal is seeing as they are relatively infrequent as it is. I’m guessing then if you watch football you aren’t a fan of the “false start” penalty which can be just as ticky-tack.
@@andrewreid895 - a) It's easy to put a pitch count in, b) A balk is irrelevant when nobody is on base. c) I have no problem with False Starts because the rule for False Starts is about 3 lines long. It's not a 400 page Choose your Own Adventure novel, like balks are. Lastly, if you can steal a base against a pitcher, why can't the pitcher bait the runner into a bad play?
My false start analogy wasn’t about the rule description but how in both cases you can simply flinch & both cases it’s a penalty yet you’re okay with it in football but not baseball. And I’m not sure how to respond to your last point that goes against 100+ years of the rules of the game other than to say it’s to move the game along… games would take double the time if they were allowed to do whatever they wanted to do.
Well, if you're a Necromancer, you can bring the rule's inventors back from the dead, hire them, and then fire them again. The rule is of **1898** vintage.
Balks are generally defined in the rules under section 6.02a, so you can look for these things to happen. 1. The pitcher starts a pitching motion but doesn't pitch (eg, slips and just aborts the throw.) 2. Swings his stepping foot back behind the rubber, and then tries to pickoff at 1st or 3rd (cf: 3:20). 3. Opts to pickoff at 1st or 3rd, but then does not throw. 4. Fails to step toward the base being thrown to BEFORE the throw. (That is, if you throw before your foot hits the ground, it's a balk!) 5. Throws to a base where there isn't a runner, unless it's to intercept a runner (or if the umpire determines that a runner juked the pitcher to cause such a throw.) 6. Quick pitches - trying to sneak in a pitch before the batter is ready. 7. Making pitching motions while your pivot foot isn't on the rubber. 8. Delay of game in some cases. Always if the pitcher is ejected for delay. 9. Faking pitches. 10. Once you're in a pitching ready position (the set or the windup), if you take either hand off the ball for any reason other than a pitch or pickoff, it's a balk. 11. Drop the ball. 12. In an intentional walk, the catcher doesn't start with his feet within the catcher's box. 13. When pitching from set position, there is a required full stop of 1 second in the ready position (both hands on the ball in front of you) before you commit. Failing to do this usually counts as a quick pitch. There's also an unusual case - squeeze play interference. During a squeeze play (sacrifice bunt with a runner on 3rd who wouldn't be forced at home) or an attempt to steal home, fielders cannot touch the batter or bat; nor may they be on or in front of home unless they have the ball. This DOES count as a balk regardless of who was guilty. Now, there are a couple cases in the video where... they shouldn't be in a balk compilation. At 0:50, there is a rule that prohibits taking off your headgear and using it to touch the ball. The penalty is the same as for a balk (all current runners advance one base,) but it it definitely not a balk. At 1:50, there is a rare INTENTIONAL BALK, which was committed because the pitcher wanted the runner to not be on 2nd where catcher signs could be stolen. In a few of these cases, the balk is called because the pitcher's shoulders drooped while in the set position, and the umpire judged it to be a stuttered pitching motion (see #1.)
@@Sandokiri Good post except there is no requirement to pause for a full second. The rule is that there must be a discernable pause. If the pitcher pauses for .25 of a second and the umpire can see it, it is not a balk. And no, that is not what a quick pitch is.
The game has gotten so controlled, it’s not fun to watch anymore. I mean come on. A pitcher cannot even wiggle his toe in his shoe without it being called a balk? It used to be, the foot that’s on the rubber, was able to be loved off and behind the rubber so he could reset. Now every time it’s called a balk. It’s like once they place on the rubber, they cannot move a millimeter without being called for it. Insane and I am glad I stopped watching all professional sports back when that numbnuts football player took a knee. That is when I knew I was never going to contribute to their ratings whatsoever. They took a rule for a balk and dissected it into 100 more ways to call it. Insane.
Obvious fix; the rule must include something like “…with the intent of deceiving the base runner(s).” MLB needs to get rid of the penny-ante balk calls. Furthermore, the umpires must understand & accept the fact that nobody comes to the game to see them officiate.
i think a good fix would to be less rigid about balks after the call. let the umpires get together and share their thoughts. and change the rule with something along the lines of "intent to deceive OR caused deception by illegal action." there needs to be a balance between letting pitchers get outs or hold runners with deception versus rewarding runners for every one of the tiniest infractions. also, i think umpires are very aware of that. the attention that they get comes from officiating a sport where most fans and more importantly, announcers, are not deeply versed in a complex rule book. creates a lot of controversy where there shouldn't be.
In short, there are extremely restrictive rules on how a pitcher is allowed to pitch. If the pitcher (or in rare cases the catcher) breaks these rules **while there are any base-runners**, it's a balk. There are a number of explicit rules as to what constitutes a balk. Most of them simply disallow a pitcher from using jukes, rhythm changes, or outright fake throws, as a matter of fair play to the batter and runners. One example is that stance that every pitcher does where they have their ball hand in their glove. They MUST do that (and be in that position for at least 1 second) by rule; and the only thing they can do when breaking that pose is to throw a pitch or a pick-off attempt. Breaking it for any other reason (wiping gnats or sweat out of your eyes, for example) is a balk. So is trying to stutter-step through your pitching motion, or accidentally dropping the ball (unless it then goes foul.) There are a couple of unusual situations. In one, an intentional walk can be called a balk if the catcher is out of position when the pitch is released. Another comes up in attempts to steal home (or get home by a squeeze play) - if any fielder touches the bat or batter, or touches home plate without having the ball, it's a balk.
@@Sandokiri thank you, now I understand. Though it seems stupid to call balks just for the pitcher wiping sweat off of them, but... whatever I guess. But yeah, preventing fake-outs is pretty important, and after rewatching the video, I understand the reason for each balk call now.
Because it’s supposed to be “Worst Balks” meaning the balks that were the worst, most of which include giving up a run because of it. Maybe read the title of the video your watching
The balk rule is the most misunderstood, incorrectly-called and potentially abused rule in baseball. Let's get rid of it and just make sure that the pitcher has his foot on the rubber when he pitches to home plate, and off the rubber when he throw sto one of the bases. If he drops the ball, loses his balance and doesn't throw the ball anywhere, just let play continue.
@@alanhess9306 I agree there should be a rule, but let's make it simple. The balk rule is there to prevent a pitcher from intentionally deceiving the runner. There is no intention if the pitcher slips or drops the ball. Most baseball riles are clearly defined, and easy to enforce. Even the best umpires will admit that the balk rule is vague and hard to enforce consistently.
The rule is simple, it's just not always enforced, so pitchers try to push the limits. I umpired for 30 years and called very few considering how many games I worked in those 30 years.
So we can go back to pre 1898 baseball rules that allowed the pitcher unlimited deceitful actions with runner(s) on base? Your reasoning makes absolutely no sense. Study the balk rules like experts do
@@oldfrend Exactly! A pitcher could literally stop his windup and throw to second or third on a steal. If anything it needs to refined a bit or made more clear
BALK RULES! IMPORTANT! 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 you're set, you make a move to throw to a base and don't throw -- that's an obvious balk. You get set and then step off, easy balk. You get set and then breathe? Come on baseball... Balks are just like running out of the baseline. Some are painfully obvious and others are called for the ump to have something to do.
