Quote:
Originally posted by JJ
Here's the play: Pitcher, in the windup position, steps on the rubber with his hands at his sides. From there, he brings both hands up simultaneously and pauses in front of his body to adjust the ball.
According to the new Fed rule interp, with runners on base this is a balk. But is there a problem/penalty if he does it with nobody on base? Illegal pitch? Dead ball? If dead, when? If not, does a preventative-officiating umpire casually tell him or the coach that what he's doing will be illegal with runners on base? If a pitcher cannot start a windup with nobody on base and stop without it being illegal, what do you do with a pitcher who starts his windup with nobody on base and stops when his hat blows off?
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Here's the skinny. Back a few years ago, the FED decided that if the pitcher in intentional contact with the pitcher's plate turned his shoulders to check a runner, that would be a balk. "What if the pitcher turned his shoulders with nobody on?" That's what I asked Kyle McNeely. He said: "Uh, well, uh.... Just ignore it." Reason: They want a simplified rule: Infractions of 6-1-1, -2, -3 are either balks or llegal pitches. But they recognize that some illegal pitches are more illegal than others.
In your case your suggestion for preventive officiating is just the ticket to get you into the state tournament. "Don't do that!" you say, and call out the defensive and offensive coaches together. "Look, guys, it's a new rule. He's gotta... Blah, blah, blah."
Trust me:
Everybody will love you, and the pitchers on those teams will learn at once how to address the batter without balking or "illegally" [sic] pitching.