[Jim Porter]

Papa C, of course, is absolutely correct. I do want to add, however, that the way the rule avoids that delay is by establishing uniformity in taking signs in all of baseball. It was an effort to speed up the preparation process between pitchers and batters by defining a guideline for what the batter can expect from the pitcher.

When the pitcher toes the rubber, he looks in for his sign. It has become routine in baseball. The batter can expect a certain amount of time between the pitcher taking the rubber and the delivery of the pitch. If, after taking his signs, the pitcher takes an unreasonable amount of time in delivering the ball, the batter can be granted a time out and it all starts over again.

As is the case with many of the rules of baseball, this one was intended to help the hitters.