technical balk: part 2

[mailman16]

it was a nervous/timing twitch the kid had. 3 out of 4 pitches he made, he toed rubber, ball in hand removed hat on, off, on ,off, on, hand to glove, pause, deliver. hands were never at his side or behind his back. my "technical" question is, when does it become a distraction to batter or runner? if he was trying to gain an advantage on a pick off attempt at 1B, then do we have a balk?

[yawetag]

it was a nervous/timing twitch the kid had. 3 out of 4 pitches he made, he toed rubber, ball in hand removed hat on, off, on ,off, on, hand to glove, pause, deliver. hands were never at his side or behind his back. my "technical" question is, when does it become a distraction to batter or runner? if he was trying to gain an advantage on a pick off attempt at 1B, then do we have a balk?

You have a balk when he adjusts his hat. There's no "distraction" rule or "gaining an advantage" rule.

[bobjenkins]

Why wasn't this posted with the initial thread?

In any event, the original answers stand.

[Richard_Siegel]

it was a nervous/timing twitch the kid had. 3 out of 4 pitches he made, he toed rubber, ball in hand removed hat on, off, on ,off, on, hand to glove, pause, deliver. hands were never at his side or behind his back. my "technical" question is, when does it become a distraction to batter or runner? if he was trying to gain an advantage on a pick off attempt at 1B, then do we have a balk?

If these activities are done prior to bringing the hands together in the set position they are legal, and yes, they are possible distractions or deceptions of the runners, but they are LEGAL. If these activities are done after bringing the hands together in the set position they are NOT legal and a balk should be called for making a motion after the "pause" that does not result in the pitcher delivering a pitch or throwing to a base.

[DaveD10]

it was a nervous/timing twitch the kid had. 3 out of 4 pitches he made, he toed rubber, ball in hand removed hat on, off, on ,off, on, hand to glove, pause, deliver. hands were never at his side or behind his back. my "technical" question is, when does it become a distraction to batter or runner? if he was trying to gain an advantage on a pick off attempt at 1B, then do we have a balk?

Hand must be at his side - balk him.

[jmurray]

Hand must be at his side - balk him.

OBR requires one hand to be at his side. It doesn't specify which and doesn't specify a penalty for this "do not do that."
There is a balk penalty for a feint without a step if you judge it to be a feint.