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"Originally posted by mcrowder
Hmmm. COS (1'/60'6") = less than half of a degree. This helps the pitcher HOW?!?!?"
Actually you'd want to use the arccos to determine the angle, or more correctly, in this case the arctan since you're using opposite and adjacent sides vice adjacent and hypotenuse. In which case the angle is ~.9 degrees... really ~1.9 since the pitcher could throw from either extreme of the rubber. :-)
Math aside, I think CoachJM's comment "the pitcher could conceivably increase the illusion (from the batter's perspective) that a pitch that was actually going to end up in the strike zone was going to hit the batter." is accurate, and the operative word is illusion. My son as a 10y/o used to do this. When I asked him what the heck he was doing over there (he'd shift for the better batters (anything for an edge)) he told me 'It freaks them out Dad... esp if I deliver side arm"! He went on to tell me how anyone can hit one right down the pipe and that it doesn't take much angle to mess a batter up. (He'd go all the way to the first base side against LH batters. Well, until I 'read the book'. Face it, if you have a Dad that worries about the diff between arctan and cos what chance do you have without your 'entire pivot foot... in front of the rubber;-))
Ya have to admit, it would be nice to know 'no kidding' why the rule is written that way wouldn't it? Be worth at least one cold drink bet when you're sitting there watching a game with friends!
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