04/25/24
April 18, 2011
SportsFilter: The Monday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Thanks Fattie. That sort of stuff is very interesting to a know-nothing like me who sees basketball as just a confusing mess of endless scoring.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:15 PM on April 18, 2011
Thus far, a year of painful to watch breakdowns with remarkable victory within reach:
Butler in the NCAA final
Rory McIlroy in the Masters fourth round
Kim Smith in today's Boston Marathon
posted by beaverboard at 03:47 PM on April 18, 2011
posted by DrJohnEvans at 04:35 PM on April 18, 2011
Thus far, a year of painful to watch breakdowns with remarkable victory within reach:
Butler in the NCAA final
Rory McIlroy in the Masters fourth round
Kim Smith in today's Boston Marathon
The Carolina Hurricanes "win and yer in" game in which they most certainly did not win. It was the opposite of win.
posted by NoMich at 04:52 PM on April 18, 2011
That balk is bizarro. He almost looks like he was trying to sneak a pitch passed a hitter who wasn't quite ready.
posted by dfleming at 05:38 PM on April 18, 2011
Nice look at Doc Rivers' play calling ability.
Interesting that both plays attack Turiaf, he's not a poor defender. Though, without knowing that lob was coming I'm not sure how anyone could defend that play. Great call.
posted by tron7 at 05:55 PM on April 18, 2011
Best balk ever
I'm confused. Story says it was ruled a balk and not a hit batsmen. Wouldn't the batter (or his team) have the choice to take the play instead of the balk?
posted by graymatters at 07:40 PM on April 18, 2011
A balk call is an immediate dead ball. You can't be hit by a pitch that never occurred.
posted by rcade at 07:48 PM on April 18, 2011
posted by yerfatma at 09:46 PM on April 18, 2011
That balk is something you see in 6th grade baseball, kid starts to go home, sees the runner take off, thinks about stopping his delivery to home, and gets messed up. I've seen throws into the dugout in cases like that.
To see on this level is hilarious. Glad to read that he laughed at himself for it (what else was he going to do?)
posted by dviking at 10:05 PM on April 18, 2011
A balk call is an immediate dead ball. You can't be hit by a pitch that never occurred.
Actually, it isn't necessarily a dead ball. If the pitcher balks while throwing to first base, and proceeds to heave it into the outfield, then the runner advances to second (automatically) and can proceed to third at his own discretion.
Essentially, a throw anywhere except home that is called a balk is NOT a dead ball.
posted by grum@work at 12:25 AM on April 19, 2011
Looking at the video, I'm not sure that Verlander was a pitcher when he threw the ball. If you notice, he was standing in the initial position to pitch from the stretch, that is with his pivot foot (right foot for a right-hander) touching the pitcher's plate and his pitching hand at his side. As he starts to bring his hands together, he steps off the pitcher's plate and throws. When he stepped off, while moving his hands, he balked, but once off the pitcher's plate, he was no longer a pitcher, but rather an infielder. Rule 8.01(e) and Rule 8.01(e) Comment are below.
(e) If the pitcher removes his pivot foot from contact with the pitcher's plate by
stepping backward with that foot, he thereby becomes an infielder and if he makes a wild throw from that position, it shall be considered the same as a wild throw by any other infielder.
Rule 8.01(e) Comment: The pitcher, while off the rubber, may throw to any base. If he makes a wild throw, such throw is the throw of an infielder and what follows is governed by the rules covering a ball thrown by a fielder.
Unless there is something other than Rule 8.01(e) applying in this case, there is no reason to kill the ball. Rule 8.05(g) could apply, since there was a throw to the plate which can be considered part of Verlander's natural motion and occurred while he was not in contact with the pitcher's plate. This doesn't kill the ball either.
Looking at the penalty and approved rulings under Rule 8.05, we find the following:
PENALTY: The ball is dead, and each runner shall advance one base without
liability to be put out, unless the batter reaches first on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batter, or otherwise, and all other runners advance at least one base, in which case the play proceeds without reference to the balk.
APPROVED RULING: In cases where a pitcher balks and throws wild, either to a base or to home plate, a runner or runners may advance beyond the base to which he is entitled at his own risk.
APPROVED RULING: A runner who misses the first base to which he is
advancing and who is called out on appeal shall be considered as having advanced one base for the purpose of this rule.
So grum@work has it right. The balk is not a dead ball, but grum also has it wrong about the throw home killing the ball. Look at the play from the link within the link that yerfatma provided. The plate umpire, whose call it would be, steps back, pulls his mask, and watches the proceedings. he does not kill the ball until the batter starts for 1st base and it is obvious that the runner will not attempt any advance beyond 2nd. Whether or not the batter was hit, the throw home was not a pitch, but the ball is not dead. The runner on first should have taken off immediately for 2nd, and while the Detroit catcher stood there trying to figure out what was going on, kept going to 3rd. All would have been legal and correct, but there are very few players who know the rule book well enough to understand a situation like this.
posted by Howard_T at 01:38 PM on April 19, 2011
Nice look at Doc Rivers' play calling ability.