About

About howtobalk.com

The balk is one of baseball's most misunderstood rules — partly because it isn't one rule at all, but a family of them, worded differently in every rule book. This site exists to document each one clearly and provide examples from real baseball games.

howtobalk.com Is Not An Authoritative Source

This site aggregates info from real sources that are authoritative: the official rule books and additional resources like the MLB Umpire Manual or NCAA updates from the Secretary Rules Editor.

You'll find some commentary on the site, but it is always clearly marked as such. The goal is to provide as much context as possible without editorializing.

It is never okay to say "howtobalk.com says this is a balk!" A more correct statement would be "I learned about this balk at howtobalk.com."

Why the rule set matters

A move that's legal under one rule book can be a balk under another. Rather than flatten those differences, this site keeps them side by side so players, coaches and umpires can see exactly how their level of play treats each situation.

Get in touch

Spot an error, or know of a balk that isn't documented yet?

Drop an email to balk-feedback@howtobalk.com.