Hi Luke,

I agree with Jay. I played lots of baseball growing up and was a pitcher. My only concern about balking was when there was runner on one of the bases. As a pitcher, I had to be aware of certain things I could and could not do when runners were on base. Any invalid movement that resulted in a called balk only resulted in runners moving up a base. The purpose of the balk rule is so that the pitcher does not do something that would unfairly trick the runner(s) currently on base. (i.e., making a motion towards home while on the pitching rubber but throwing to a base for a pick-off attempt is one example of a balk).