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Good post, Garth. I think the critical part of your post is reminding everyone that this is now a dead ball situation, where in the past the ball remained live on a directed pitch. This is from a summary of the 2006 OBR rule changes.
New Rule:
6.02 (c) If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter’s box during his time at bat, the umpire shall call a strike on the batter. The ball is dead, and no runners may advance. After the penalty, the batter may take his proper position and the regular ball and strike count shall continue. If the batter does not take his proper position before three strikes have been called, the batter shall be declared out.
Editor’s Note:
The MLB Umpire Manual’s official interpretation was added here. The change is that no pitch need be thrown for a strike and the ball is now dead when such intentional strikes are called, thereby preventing a batter from jumping back into the box and hitting the ball.
Tim.
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