To clarify, the move itself is inherently deceptive, regardless of intent. Against RHP’s, the runner on 1st going into their secondary or attempting to steal is predicated on movement of the lead leg. Movement of the left knee/leg without going to home is a balk. Period. Do pitchers get away with it? Absolutely they do. I did. But more often than not, a balk is called.
Personally, the real debate shouldn’t be if this was a balk or not, but more so, if this should’ve been a no-call. An argument can be made that since Teo was stealing off timing and not the move to home, the balk was irrelevant to the outcome. If that’s the case, the fair call would’ve been a no-call on the balk and he’s out at 1st. Tbh, this prob gets missed during the regular season. The fact that the ump immediately pointed at Miz as soon as he stepped off is impressive.
So we pull our ace at 61 pitches w/ 8 K’s thru 4, who’s also throwing a no-hitter? We had a chance to turn a meaningless game into a historic send off for a HoF announcer. 😐