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Originally Posted by mbyron
Anyway, the rules writers aren't logicians either: the operative statement is open to two interpretations, and both are false.
"He [the pitcher] shall take his sign from the catcher with his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate."
On one reading, this rule entails that the pitcher must take signs from the catcher. But that's false, since the pitcher doesn't have to take signs.
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Agreed, which is why the 2nd interp is correct and true.
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Originally Posted by mbyron
On another reading, the rule entails that IF the pitcher takes a sign from the catcher, THEN his pivot foot must be in contact. But that's false too (for instance, when the catcher signals how he's going to play with runners on 1st & 3rd).
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You've misquoted the rule!
The rule says
"his sign" meaning the sign specifically intended for F1, not signs given to the team in general or to the infield.
So when F2 gives the pitcher
"his sign" F1 must be on the rubber.
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Originally Posted by mbyron
Some folks have invented the notion of "pitching signs," and tried to interpret the rule narrowly in terms of those; but this term does not appear in the rule book, and in any case it's still false to say that the pitcher must take "pitching signs" in contact (on either interpretation).
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It is a narrow rule.
When F1 takes
"his sign" from F2 he must be in contact with the rubber.
And some folks use the the term "pitching signs" to be more descriptive and plain about
"his sign" which is in the rule book and clearly intended to mean the sign indicating which pitch is to be thrown which can logically be called "pitching signs".