Shakespeare had poetic license. Last time I checked, ASA did not have a resident poet on staff.
"They" aren't using "they" because it sounds better - it sounds awful. "They" are using "they" because "they" live in fear of such professional busy-bodies as Martha Burk.
The only place the pronouns "he" or "she" is in the entire exam is in the intro, talking about umpires. And that is the combination "he/she".
Try and tell me this sounds better
Quote:
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42SP. The pitcher starts with their right foot in contact with the pitching plate, their left foot is considerably outside the pitching plate prior to the start of the pitch. As they deliver the pitch and steps their left foot is still outside the pitching plate. This is a legal pitch.
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than this
Quote:
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42SP. The pitcher starts with her right foot in contact with the pitching plate, her left foot is considerably outside the pitching plate prior to the start of the pitch. As she delivers the pitch and steps her left foot is still outside the pitching plate. This is a legal pitch.
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Note also the construction "they deliver" as opposed to "delivers" - plural construction. Awful corruption of the language.
If "they" want to be PC, why not alternate the use of "he" and "she"?
As you can tell - one of my pet peeves. And a losing battle. Oh, well.