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We didn't make the rules, just have to enforce them.
Never saw a problem with pitchers stepping on and immediately bringing hands together until about 6-7 years ago. Seems like out of the blue everyone started teaching pitchers to take the signal back off the pitching plate and then step on. Perfectly legal except now that the pitcher already has the signal they forget to keep their hands apart. I even brought it up at several umpire clinics and for the most part the response I got was "Im not calling that". One guy even said, "If she even looks toward the catcher she has taken a signal". Nevermind the rule specifically states the pitcher must step on with hands separated and while in that position take or simulate taking a signals. And the problem has only gotten worse with the advent of the wristbands. I have no idea why the pitchers don't just step onto the pitching plate and then take their signals.
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