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Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve
If the pitcher feinting to third is considered to be disengaged, why wouldn't he, by the same token, be considered disengaged if he steps from the rubber toward first, and feints a throw. In this case, he's on the rubber, and it's a balk. So, I think your interpreter is wrong. You can't have it both ways.
If this were the case, all the pro interpretations would not require the pitcher to actually "break contact" before completing the throw to first. Breaking contact does not mean "disengaging," which is only accomplished by stepping backward off the rubber with the pivot foot.
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I think you misunderstand.
WHILE making the throw to 3rd, obviously, the pitcher is engaged with the rubber. If the ball should be thrown out-of-play, it would be a one base award.
It is
AFTER the pitcher has made the move toward 3rd that he is then considered disengaged.
My point has been that the consideration of whether the pitcher is engaged or disengaged is only pertinent when the pitcher chooses to do something from one of the two legal pitching positions, 1) wind-up or 2) set.
Once he has left one of those positions, for whatever reason, he is no longer a pitcher.
The pitcher fakes toward 3rd
as a pitcher. That maneuver is complete.
Now he is an infielder..
Of course this was my original personal view. Apparently FED does not see it that way. According to FED, the pitching regulations (regarding engaged or disengaged) still apply even after the pitcher has made a previous pickoff attempt. On the
second attempt (i.e. play), he is still considered a pitcher.
FED is making a ruling on the location of the pitcher's pivot foot even though the pitcher never steps BACK off the rubber which is what is
actually required for a legal disengagement ... not your foot simply breaking contact with the rubber.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN