Rule 4.03

Question
Rule 4.03 states all fielders must be in fair territory during the game. 4.03 (a) states it's a balk if the catcher leaves his box on an intentional walk prior to the ball leaving the pitcher's hand.
My question : A coach in our Junior Legion league positioned his 2nd baseman behind the catcher in foul territory in the event of a passed ball. Bases were loaded. A pitch was thrown. The 2 umpires that were doing the game were new and let the 2nd baseman stay behind the catcher. Was that a balk ?

Answer
Jeff,

The situation as described would be a balk. In fact, the umpires may have messed up before the pitch was even thrown.

Firstly, if time was called between the last batter reaching first and the pitch to the next batter, the umpire shouldn't put the ball in play until the fielders are in fair territory. Secondly, when the umpire saw what was happening, he should have just called time and told the coach to put his fielder back in fair territory; allowing the fielder to stand where he was is a serious safety issue.

Even if the umpires allowed it to happen, they should have definitely called a balk on the pitch once it was made. However, any umpire with decent training would have stopped it before the pitch was made.