I had a tight game where the head umpire in the league called a "fielder's balk" because our LH 1b had his left foot in foul ground while holding the runner. I told him that it wasn't a rule and that it was a myth. I lost that argument.

 

I can top that. 4 or 5 years ago, after having been called for a fielder's balk several times in a tournament by this Umpires R' Us crew, I did all my research and proved there is no such thing. So next time we had these guys in a tournament, I was ready. They called fielder's balk, whereupon I calmly walked out with my MLB rulebook, MLB casebook, and PBUC (Professional Baseball Umpires Corp.) manual, along with numerous emails from various baseballs experts, including Harry Wendlestadt School of Umpiring and, most impressively, the Director of Umpires for MLB - all saying there is no such thing. I wasn't yelling or screaming or anything (I never do), but asked him to show me in the book where the penalty was a balk. He said he didn't have to because he "was a former minor league umpire, had been to umpire school, and knew the rules". :argue: I asked him if he had actually passed the school, to which I was tossed (deservedly so). After the game, I gave my required apology :cry: and asked to discuss the matter with him and he absolutely refused to consider any of the reference matters I had. I subsequently saw this crew at another tournament and I'll be darned if they didn't call it yet again, so obviously he never even bothered to check on his own if he could have been wrong. That, to me, is the sign of a bad umpire. :irked:

I can top that. 4 or 5 years ago, after having been called for a fielder's balk several times in a tournament by this Umpires R' Us crew, I did all my research and proved there is no such thing. So next time we had these guys in a tournament, I was ready. They called fielder's balk, whereupon I calmly walked out with my MLB rulebook,

 

For the record, I knew at this point in the story that you were tossed.

For the record, I knew at this point in the story that you were tossed.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

YES!!! The "fielder's balk" is an absolute, complete, unequivocal myth!! I am now an expert on this. I became so annoyed by this one umpire crew in Cincinnati (Umpires R Us) that continually called this that I did a bunch of research, including calling the Harry Wendelstadt School of Umpiring and I even called the Director of Umpires for MLB (you guys probably thought I was kidding when I said I was a rules freak!). So here's the deal:

 

First of all, outside the catcher, all fielders must be in fair territory on the field of play at the time of the pitch. Sorry Coach K, but I must correct one thing: To be in the field of play, you must have BOTH feet in fair territory. It is the same as the ruling for the coach's box (they must have both feet in there, though no one ever calls them on this), the batter's box (one foot out of box means you are OUT of box), or the catcher's box (on IBB, he must have BOTH feet in the box at the time of the pitch). However, if a fielder does not (and really, the only fielder we could be talking about is the first baseman) have both feet inside the lines, there is NO PENALTY. All the umpire does is tell him to get both feet inside the line. Technically, there cannot even be a legal pitch made since all fielders must be in fair territory. However, MLB told me that this is something they NEVER enforce and would only do so if the other team objected. If they did so object, the MLB rep told me they would then enforce the coach's box rules also, something that none of the coach's would want. This whole thing started back in the 1980's when the Boston Red Sox were making an appeal play to first on a batter they felt missed the bag (the batter was now on third) and sent their 2Bman behind first base to back up the play in the event the pitcher threw wildly over there on the pickoff and allowed the guy on third to score.

 

So there, now you know more than you ever wanted to know about the non-existent "fielder's balk." Don't ever let any umpire call this on you. EVER. :irked:

 

NFHS rule book Rule 1-2 Art.4 ( page 10 of this years rule book) At the time of the pitch, All fielders shall be in fair ground except the catcher who shall be in the catchers box. A fielder is in fair ground when at least one foot is touching fair ground.

 

Penalty: Illegal pitch

 

When an illegal pitch occurs with a runner or runners on base, it is ruled a balk.

 

Sorry I didn't read all the posts and I didn't realize that this was already covered before I posted it. I wish we could come up with one set of rules for Baseball.

NFHS rule book Rule 1-2 Art.4 ( page 10 of this years rule book) At the time of the pitch, All fielders shall be in fair ground except the catcher who shall be in the catchers box. A fielder is in fair ground when at least one foot is touching fair ground.

 

Penalty: Illegal pitch

 

When an illegal pitch occurs with a runner or runners on base, it is ruled a balk.

 

Sorry I didn't read all the posts and I didn't realize that this was already covered before I posted it. I wish we could come up with one set of rules for Baseball.

 

Yeah, this is one of those NFHS/MLB rules differences. I tend to know OBR (MLB) rules better due to coaching a SWOL team for so many years. I really need to get a better handle on NFHS rules, as there is obviously some major differences. :creepy: