Jan
30
It’s official: The fake-to-third, throw-to-first move is now a balk
ByVia Tyler Kepner: The fake-to-third, throw-to-first move is now officially a balk. That was one of three rule changes — along with coaches being allowed to bring an interpreter to the mound and teams being allowed to have a seventh coach in uniform in the dugout — approved by the owners earlier this month that had to be run by the players’ union. I’m guessing the other two rule changes were given the okay as well, but I haven’t seen any confirmation of that. Minor stuff, but at least the rules will be implemented correctly. The fake-to-third, throw-to-first move was always a balk because it was attempting to deceive, it was just never enforced by umpires.
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Thank goodness. That move always pissed me off.
I like to call it the “Ugh, that move never wo– Holy shit, did that just work?!” move.
For me, just a delay of game move.
you said it, winter.
It is a shame they have removed another element from the game. Obviously the hidden ball trick proves that not all attempts to deceive are a balk as does faking a bunt and then swinging away.
Jeff Nelson no longer will have a move named in his honor.
That always bothered me a bit. I am pretty confident I saw that move well before Jeff Nelson was on the Yankees, but I am not sure. That was a long time and many beers ago.
Hopefully they were damn good beers.
Oh, that move has been going on for 100 years or more. I remember it from when I was a kid (no, not 100 years ago), but slipping back 30+ years. I remember Phil Rizzuto commenting on it when he was a broadcaster, so yeah, it’s been around a long time.
you cite scooter.
sssccchhhooff.
I read “dalelama” for a second and thought “holy shit! something different to say!”
It will ALWAYS be the Jeff Nelson move. It will just now be the outlawed Jeff Nelson move.
IT RESULTED IN AN OUT.
hardly ever does.
good!
Noooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
Damn you all to hell, damn you!
Kind of trite, ain’t it?
I feel like a balk is something where no matter how many thousands of baseball games I watch, I still don’t know exactly what it is.
yes, boy, yes.
One less CS for Cano!
Yessss!! My thoughts exactly
Didn’t Gardner get caught by one, too?
Not sure if I’m happier at the fact that I don’t have to hear Michael Kay call it the Jeff Nelson move anymore or the fact that I don’t have to see Robbie Cano get fooled by the move anymore, that was getting old
yep. like michael kay will EVER stop talking about the jeff nelson play.
he won’t.
I was sick of Michael Kay saying “(Pitcher X) with the ol’ Jeff Nelson move” every friggin’ time someone did it.
Good news for the Yanks…how many times has that move worked against them in recent years?
no problem seeing mlb do away with that rule but isn’t the point of picking a runner off any base to deceive the runner. that’s kind of the pitchers job
Some moves (i.e. most RHP throwing to first) aren’t really all that deceptive, more like a quick try to catch a runner leaning or sleeping. Other moves, like Pettitte’s, could definitely be classified as deceptive.
Hell, I think Pettitte’s move is a balk every single time. I’m glad they don’t call it, but balks are kind of a nebulous thing; you never really know 100% what constitutes a balk and what doesn’t.
Michael Kay got an extension just days before this move is banned from the game? Maybe the Mayans were simply off a little bit on the date. Hang on tight boys and girls!
i know you thought noone would really appreciate your awesomeness but i sort of love you.
sorry. not you.
REAL SPORTS FANS.
If this was always an illegal move because it was trying to deceive the baserunners, why isn’t pettitte called for a balk. He is known as having a great move, but isn’t he trying to deceive the runners by making it look like he is going to throw a pitch to the plate? i love pettitte and i love that runners don’t steal on him much, just sort of confused on when deception is ok and when it isn’t.
Maybe umpires will also start enforcing the “must pitch within 15 seconds or it’s a ball” rule? Has that been called even one time?
Isn’t a pickoff by definition an attempt to deceive? You are trying to make the runner think you are throwing a pitch, but at the last second, you change, and throw to first.
either way…glad it’s out. I agree with the previous statements about being happy we don’t have to hear Kay make his same comment.