With Jeff McNeil at first base and Pete Alonso at the plate, first base umpire John Tumpane called a balk on Bleier, who he said didn’t come set before throwing home. The second time, Tumpane determined Bleier flinched before going home. While there is a case to be made, it appears Tumpane wanted the RBI, because he called Bleier for a third balk in Alonso’s at-bat where seemingly nothing occurred.

Bleier and Don Mattingly were ejected (balks are considered a judgment call and cannot be argued), but the Marlins still went onto win 6-4.

Ladies, gentlemen, and those who don’t identify? Welcome to the Ump Show.

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Bleier, as the Shea Station tweet mentions, had never been called for a balk since his first appearance with the Yankees in 2016. Now, his name will be synonymous with balking, as he became the first pitcher with three in one inning since the Pirates’ Jim Gott in 1988. No other pitcher since 1900 has balked three times with one batter.

“Words cannot describe what happened in that inning on my end,” Bleier said, per ESPN. “I don’t know. It was wild.”

“It’s the same move I’ve been doing for 300 innings, and here we are,” he said. “Maybe I was balking. I watched the video. I completely disagreed, but I’m biased, so I don’t know.”

What is a balk?

Balks are a rule that is often disregarded as a “you’ll know when you see it” moment, but it rarely plays out that way. 

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In broad terms, the rulebook (8.05) defines balks as:

But what exactly does that mean? Well, it will depend on what it means to the umpire calling it. Among the actions that can result in a balk are faking throws to first, dropping the ball while on the rubber, starting to deliver a pitch but stopping, going home without coming set, or flinching after coming set.

Oftentimes it’ll be something that’s difficult to see, but Tumpane took issue with something Bleier was doing Tuesday. There’s a case to be made for the first two, but it’s a stretch. One could argue Bleier didn’t come set on the first one and he seemed to bring the glove down a tad before delivering on the second. But the third one is, to be frank, a call from nothing and seemed to be made out of principle.

Oh, and for those wondering? Unless they have the sophistication of the hide-and-seek robot in “Squid Game,” robot umps aren’t going to help with this type of situation. Balks are a judgment call, and not every flinch is going to be deemed as “deceitful.” Perhaps some clarity to the rule would help instead.