Player Balk

Question
I am a 9U coach, and not a baseball expert.  We play under Official Baseball Rules (not High School Rules) with the exception of some league-specific rules about pitch counts.  I was told before our season that under OBR, a first baseman can stradle the bag with one foot in foul ground and one foot in fair territory when he holds the runner on.  Last night, for the first time, I had an ump tell me that was a player balk because my first baseman had one foot in foul ground.  Can you please clarify whether or not a player can have one foot in foul ground under OBR?  Can you please provide a rules reference/link so I can pass it on to our ump supervisor?  I don't want anyone else to have to re-train their firstbasemen during a game.  It's not fair to the kids.

Thanks,

Mark  

Answer
Excellent question & one that most umpires miss....Congrats to this one who has obviously been to a training camp somewhere & understands the rule......

I do not have my rule book w/me but the section basically says "that all players other that the catcher must be in fair territory at the time of the pitch".....Therefore if there is a runner on base, the FB must have both feet in fair territory.  Therefore I agree w/ the call.....We teach this in advanced high school & college camps.

Thanks for the question.

Thanks, Andy

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