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Justin Verlander’s Trippy Balk

Posted by Steve Lombardi on April 17, 2011

Did you see this one?

Verlander still has a ways to go before he catches up to some of these guys: Spanning Multiple Seasons or entire Careers, From 1901 to 2011, sorted by greatest Balks

Rk Player BK From To Age G GS CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP H R ER BB SO ERA ERA+ HR BF IBB HBP WP Tm
1 Steve Carlton 90 1965 1988 20-43 741 709 254 55 13 329 244 .574 2 5217.2 4672 2130 1864 1833 4136 3.22 115 414 21683 150 53 183 STL-PHI-TOT-MIN
2 Bob Welch 45 1978 1994 21-37 506 462 61 28 20 211 146 .591 8 3092.0 2894 1310 1191 1034 1969 3.47 107 267 12956 60 79 55 LAD-OAK
3 Buddy Black 43 1981 1995 24-38 398 296 32 12 42 121 116 .511 11 2053.1 1978 982 876 623 1039 3.84 104 217 8627 49 49 65 SEA-KCR-TOT-CLE-SFG
4 Charlie Hough 42 1970 1994 22-46 858 440 107 13 240 216 216 .500 61 3801.1 3283 1807 1582 1665 2362 3.75 107 383 16170 44 174 179 LAD-TOT-TEX-CHW-FLA
5 Phil Niekro 42 1964 1987 25-48 864 716 245 45 83 318 274 .537 29 5404.0 5044 2337 2012 1809 3342 3.35 115 482 22677 86 123 226 MLN-ATL-NYY-CLE-TOT
6 Rick Sutcliffe 38 1976 1994 20-38 457 392 72 18 30 171 139 .552 6 2697.2 2662 1324 1223 1081 1679 4.08 98 236 11548 75 46 100 LAD-CLE-TOT-CHC-BAL-STL
7 Kevin Gross 35 1983 1997 22-36 474 368 42 14 38 142 158 .473 5 2487.2 2519 1245 1137 986 1727 4.11 95 230 10791 76 79 53 PHI-MON-LAD-TEX-ANA
8 Jim Deshaies 35 1984 1995 24-35 257 253 15 6 1 84 95 .469 0 1525.0 1434 743 702 575 951 4.14 91 179 6432 39 27 19 NYY-HOU-SDP-TOT-MIN-PHI
9 Randy Johnson 33 1988 2009 24-45 618 603 100 37 7 303 166 .646 2 4135.1 3346 1703 1513 1497 4875 3.29 136 411 17067 37 190 109 MON-TOT-SEA-ARI-NYY-SFG
10 Dwight Gooden 33 1984 2000 19-35 430 410 68 24 4 194 112 .634 3 2800.2 2564 1198 1091 954 2293 3.51 111 210 11705 42 78 76 NYM-NYY-CLE-TOT
11 Nolan Ryan 33 1966 1993 19-46 807 773 222 61 13 324 292 .526 3 5386.0 3923 2178 1911 2795 5714 3.19 112 321 22575 78 158 277 NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX
12 Bob Walk 33 1980 1993 23-36 350 259 16 6 24 105 81 .565 5 1666.0 1671 829 746 606 848 4.03 91 143 7127 36 40 80 PHI-ATL-PIT
13 Joaquin Andujar 33 1976 1988 23-35 405 305 68 19 37 127 118 .518 9 2153.0 2016 955 857 731 1032 3.58 99 155 9008 65 51 33 HOU-TOT-STL-OAK
14 David Cone 32 1986 2003 23-40 450 419 56 22 9 194 126 .606 1 2898.2 2504 1222 1115 1137 2668 3.46 121 258 12184 42 106 149 KCR-NYM-TOT-NYY-BOS
15 Charlie Leibrandt 31 1979 1993 22-36 394 346 52 18 17 140 119 .541 2 2308.0 2390 1068 952 656 1121 3.71 109 172 9774 44 37 63 CIN-KCR-ATL-TEX
16 Rick Rhoden 31 1974 1989 21-36 413 380 69 17 14 151 125 .547 1 2593.2 2606 1143 1036 801 1419 3.59 104 198 10900 62 39 80 LAD-PIT-NYY-HOU
17 Dennis Martinez 30 1976 1998 21-43 692 562 122 30 51 245 193 .559 8 3999.2 3897 1835 1643 1165 2149 3.70 106 372 16754 71 122 83 BAL-TOT-MON-CLE-SEA-ATL
18 Bob McClure 30 1975 1993 23-41 698 73 12 1 233 68 57 .544 52 1158.2 1125 551 490 497 701 3.81 102 104 5005 39 34 29 KCR-MIL-TOT-MON-CAL-STL-FLA
19 Jerry Koosman 29 1967 1985 24-42 612 527 140 33 43 222 209 .515 17 3839.1 3635 1608 1433 1198 2556 3.36 110 290 15996 121 71 89 NYM-MIN-TOT-CHW-PHI
20 Ted Lilly 28 1999 2011 23-35 313 288 5 3 5 113 98 .536 0 1733.1 1612 857 808 584 1482 4.20 108 260 7349 26 53 53 MON-NYY-TOT-OAK-TOR-CHC-LAD
21 Greg Maddux 28 1986 2008 20-42 744 740 109 35 3 355 227 .610 0 5008.1 4726 1981 1756 999 3371 3.16 132 353 20421 177 137 70 CHC-ATL-TOT-SDP
22 Brian Anderson 28 1993 2005 21-33 291 245 12 4 11 82 83 .497 1 1547.0 1743 906 814 337 723 4.74 98 264 6532 28 23 22 CAL-CLE-ARI-TOT-KCR
23 Jose Rijo 28 1984 2002 19-37 376 269 22 4 43 116 91 .560 3 1880.0 1710 772 676 663 1606 3.24 121 147 7867 34 28 30 NYY-OAK-CIN
24 Michael Jackson 27 1986 2004 21-39 1005 7 0 0 422 62 67 .481 142 1188.1 983 492 451 464 1006 3.42 126 127 4966 80 56 39 PHI-SEA-SFG-CIN-CLE-HOU-MIN-CHW
25 Tom Candiotti 27 1983 1999 25-41 451 410 68 11 11 151 164 .479 0 2725.0 2662 1299 1130 883 1735 3.73 108 250 11568 31 85 120 MIL-CLE-TOT-LAD-OAK
26 Pete Smith 27 1987 1998 21-32 231 163 12 4 19 47 71 .398 1 1025.2 1043 557 518 404 640 4.55 86 126 4423 24 10 29 ATL-NYM-CIN-SDP-TOT
27 Jack Morris 27 1977 1994 22-39 549 527 175 28 10 254 186 .577 0 3824.0 3567 1815 1657 1390 2478 3.90 105 389 16120 99 58 206 DET-MIN-TOR-CLE
28 Frank Tanana 27 1973 1993 19-39 638 616 143 34 10 240 236 .504 1 4188.1 4063 1910 1704 1255 2773 3.66 106 448 17641 116 129 119 CAL-BOS-TEX-TOT-DET
29 Bobby Witt 26 1986 2001 22-37 430 397 47 11 13 142 157 .475 0 2465.0 2493 1449 1324 1375 1955 4.83 91 252 11003 37 39 128 TEX-TOT-OAK-TBD-CLE-ARI
30 Atlee Hammaker 26 1981 1995 23-37 249 152 18 6 29 59 67 .468 5 1078.2 1051 493 439 287 615 3.66 98 94 4509 54 13 28 KCR-SFG-TOT-SDP-CHW
31 John Candelaria 26 1975 1993 21-39 600 356 54 13 82 177 122 .592 29 2525.2 2399 1038 935 592 1673 3.33 114 245 10366 63 37 28 PIT-TOT-CAL-NYY-LAD
32 Larry Christenson 26 1973 1983 19-29 243 220 27 6 13 83 71 .539 4 1402.2 1401 648 591 395 781 3.79 99 100 5861 34 21 34 PHI
33 Dave LaPoint 25 1980 1991 20-31 294 227 11 4 17 80 86 .482 1 1486.2 1598 748 664 559 802 4.02 94 117 6471 47 17 53 MIL-STL-SFG-TOT-NYY-PHI
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/17/2011.

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Related posts:

    Justin Verlander: Best Tigers pitcher since … ?
    Justin Maxwell and doubling twice after pinch-hitting
    Justin Verlander joins the short list of pitchers with multiple no-hitters
    Balk Talk
    Atlanta’s Balk-Off Win: One for Flinching

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 17th, 2011 at 9:56 am and is filed under Season Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

27 Responses to “Justin Verlander’s Trippy Balk”

  1. Neil L. Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 10:43 am

    Steve Carlton more than double anyone else? Some umpire have an axe to grind against him over all those years?

    Top three are lefties and 2 of the top five are knucklers, hmmm........ food for thought.

  2. Neil L. Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 10:45 am

    @1
    oops, not Welch.... too quick on the trigger. Sorry.

  3. Jamie Wilking Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 10:48 am

    Tom Candiotti is in the top 25 as well. Wakefield won't be on this list though, he's only been called for 7 balks in his career.

  4. Evan Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 11:03 am

    Andy Pettitte belongs on this list, but early on he developed a reputation for having a great pickoff move and only got called for balks 11 times.

  5. BSK Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I was just about to post what Evan did. Pettitte's "move" itself was a balk, but because that was how he did it, he never got called for it. He regularly broke the 45-degree plane. I'm sure other guys had similar situations in their careers.

  6. Evan Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 11:37 am

    Even if you want to give Pettitte the benefit of the doubt and say his move was just on the boundary between balk and legal throw, it is a bit far-fetched to think that he only crossed that line 11 times during his career. He would have been an even better pitcher if he were able to repeat his mechanics to those tolerances that frequently.

  7. LJF Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 11:50 am

    As I remember, Carlton's move was very controversial, which is why he as called for so many balks. There was a lot of discussion about it when he was active. It would be interesting to see a side by side comparision of him and someone like Pettitte to see if there are similarities.

  8. LJF Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    Just looked at Cartlon's stats, and found this really bizarre. From 1965-1973 he pitched 1905 innings and had 4 balks called - one every 476 IP. In 1974 he matched his career total to that point with 4, then went on a balking tear. From 1974-1984, we was called for 75 balks in 2883 innings - one every 38.4 IP - an increase of 1200+% in his balk rate.

  9. Spartan Bill Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:14 pm

    Speaking of balks. Jon Garland got called for one Friday night. That was the first balk in his career. He had gone 2030 innings without be called for one. According to Vin Scully it was the longest streak to begin a career in history.

  10. Neil L. Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    So did Lefty start "cheating" on his move half way through his career or did a fresh crop of umpires arrive on the scene in 1974+?

    Once you develop a reputation for "pushing the envelope" on your move do umpires scrutinize you more closely?

    Evan & BSK,
    Pettitte may be proof of the opposite sort... that if your move is not called a balk early in your career then it is "umpire endorsed" and you can get away with murder in terms of deceiving base runners. No umpire is going to break ranks and start calling balks on a veteran pitcher.

    And opposition managers may give up arguing that the move is a balk!

  11. Spartan Bill Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:22 pm

    Check out this box score

    Bob Shaw committed 5 balks in 4.1 IP. Two other pitchers also had balks called that game.

    In the 3rd inning Billy Williams got a base on balls and came around to score on Balk, Balk, Balk.

    I could almost understand this if it was someone like Maury Wills on base, but neither the Cubs nor Billy Williams were known for their baserunning in those days.

  12. J. B. Rainsberger Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    18 of the top 20 had careers that included 1988. Shocking. Bob Davidson probably called half the balks.

  13. Eric Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    1974 was also the year Steve Carlton stopped talking to the media. Why that would affect his balk rate or how often umps called him on a balk, I don't know.

  14. Jonathan Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Great balk story: I was at Safeco Field for this game. Jamie Moyer balks with a runner on third. Mariners lose 1-0 to Tampa. May 10, 2006. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA200605100.shtml

  15. Neil L. Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    @11
    Most unusual. Has to be only one game like this. Spartan, did you intend to post the link?

  16. Raphy Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    @15
    I just added the link to Spartan's post (#11)

  17. Jesse Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 2:15 pm

    what makes Carlton even more impressive, is that unlike several at the top, he never go hit by the 88 'complete stop' rule.

    Guys at the top like Hiough, Black and welch all had jumps in 88, and saw thier rates increase by a large margin.

    For example Black has 12 in 956 innings before 88 and 31 in 1096 innings after

    Hough had 17 in 2465 innings and 25 in 1346 after 88

  18. Spartan Bill Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    sorry about not linking it.

    thanks for covering for me Raphy

  19. DavidRF Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 4:53 pm

    Are there pickoff leaderboards? You can see Carlton's 144 pickoff in his fielding table but I can't find seasonal and career leaderboards to see how impressive that is.

  20. John Autin Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    I found a note about Shaw's 5-balk game on a Brewers fan site:

    "Shaw briefly earned the nickname "Balk Shaw" in 1963. That year the umpires had a directive to enforce the balk rule of coming to a full one second stop in the stretch. Since this rule had not been enforced to the letter previously, a few guys had trouble adjusting most notably Shaw. It became farcical on May 4, 1963 in a game against the Cubs, when umpire Al Barlick called 5 balks on Shaw in one game bringing his total for the season to date to 8. ... The uproar that ensued resulted in a directive to the umps to return to their previous rule interpretation and Shaw did not record another balk the rest of the year."
    http://brewersfandemonium.yuku.com/topic/23497

    I hadn't known that there had been a balk-enforcement directive in 1963 like the one in 1988. But the evidence is there in the NL balk totals by year:
    1962, 48
    1963, 147
    1964, 36

    The AL balk totals suggest that the directive went to NL umps only -- which would not be surprising, since each league handled its own umpires independently. The AL balk totals for those 3 years were 44, 47 and 29.

  21. Neil L. Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 6:36 pm

    Mr. Autin, how DO you find these tidbits?

    The balk is a subjective call, so subject to umpire's judgement that small differences in balk totals are probably mostly meaningless.

    @19
    David, your post is really relevant, I think. Pickoffs are the reward for skirting the rulebook with respect to move to the plate. There is a risk/reward ratio for balks that is difficult to evaluate without pickoff data.

    But then pickoffs can't be separated from CS where the runner was hung out to dry so badly that he went for second.

  22. wboenig Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    Here's another game where the only run was scored on a balk:

    http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BOS/BOS199806060.shtml

    And no, I didn't do some elaborate search; I found out about it the old-fashioned way -- I attended the game.

  23. StephenH Says:
    April 17th, 2011 at 7:20 pm

    Regarding Carlton and his jump in Balk totals. I had heard that he had copied Jerry Koosman's pickoff move, which was similar. It seems possible as Kooz is also on this list. As for Pettite, for whatever reason, the umps just never rarely called balks on him. But it was a balk move.

  24. Rich Says:
    April 18th, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    Pettitte had a ridiculous balk in the 2009 World Series that I'm still rather annoyed about

  25. Rich Says:
    April 18th, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    uncalled balk that is

  26. DoubleDiamond Says:
    April 18th, 2011 at 9:12 pm

    Regarding the Shaw game and 1963 - I remember a year from my childhood in which there was a new balk rule that greatly increased the number of balks that were called. If I recall correctly, this rule was rescinded pretty quickly, possibly even during that same season.

    As soon as I saw the post about the 5-game balk by one pitcher, I just knew it had to come from that season.

    Regarding the Verlander balk of the other day - I've expressed here before that I don't think a balk should be called if the pitcher falls down, trips, gets blown over by the wind (Stu Miller in an All Star game in Candlestick Park during my childhood), etc. It should just be a "no pitch". I remember watching a Braves game on TBS, probably in the early or mid-1990s, and seeing a pitcher accidentally lose the ball just before he threw it. It was called a balk, and I was outraged! (What would the call have been if the bases had been empty.) I remember that it was the Braves' opponents' pitcher, and I thought I had remembered that it was Mark Portugal, probably with the Astros at the time. But when I looked up Portugal's games against the Braves hoping to verify this, I didn't find such a play against the Braves. That was a while back.

  27. John Autin Says:
    April 18th, 2011 at 9:49 pm

    @26, DoubleDiamond -- A couple of questions about how you'd like to change the balk rule:
    -- Wouldn't that put a lot of pressure on the umpires to discern exactly what physical forces "caused" a pitcher to balk? Is whatever we might gain by overlooking a few "accidental" balks worth the potential arguments about whether a gust of wind caused Andy Pettitte's leg to cross the perpendicular line that requires him to throw home instead of to first base?
    -- Why should a pitcher who trips, stumbles, gets blown over or attacked by midges get a mulligan, while a batter, runner or fielder has no such recourse?

    Just curious what you think about those angles.

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