What movements by pitchers constitutes a balk?
by 
BERT FOUTS
ANSWERS: 3
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Any movement towards homeplate at all and then instead of throwing to the plate you throw to a base, that is a balk. So, if a pitcher moves his foot towards homeplate, but then throws to first base, where a base runner is, then that is a balk, and every base runner moves up one base. Also, if the pitcher just barly moves the leg that is on the rubber then goes to a base instead of the plate, that is also a balk.
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Basically, it is any movement, while in the "set" position, that can deceive a runner. For instance, if a right handed pitcher moves any body part on the left side of his body away from the runner (at first base), then throws to first, that is illegal. Any movement that is started towards home plate and stopped, dropping the baseball at any time while the foot is engaged to the rubber and a move to any base that is not occupied by a runner.
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Also to add on to what has already been said, a good move to use to pick runners off is the bringing up of ur landing leg's knee and not crossing it over your other knee then stepping towards the base to pick a runner off. Hence the lefty move towards first base and it can be so effective. Also there is no need to throw over to any base if u dont cross ur knees and go home making it harder for a runner to detect your pick off move. One of the better moves in the game belongs to Andy Pettite.
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