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Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
And when the defense is giving you a change and the ODB is walking behind the catcher to get to the RH box and watching the pitcher, you are doing what?
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Having used the NCAA mechanic, I actually prefer it. For me, that isn't true all the time, but this one I like.
By taking the baseline extended 8' to 10', you are far enough away from the plate (using my age-old geometry, that makes you about 5' to 7' to the side of the plate, almost twice the width of the batters box. I have never felt uncomfortable in that location. I have felt like I could now observe the only things that there are to observe between innings; obviously the team taking the field, but now also the team coming in to play offense.
They can have a batter-to-be warming up in their on-deck circle, and an on-deck-batter-to-be warming up; in NCAA, at least, it is a rule that others are not to be out of the dugout swinging bats, and I find it a reasonable safety rule in other applications.
Mike, to your specific question, the answer is that the ODB is not allowed to walk around to the other side until you call "batter up". Stop it from happening as a rule, and that ends your concern. That person is not the batter, it is an on-deck-batter that must say on his/her side, until you call them to be the batter. And this way, you are facing them, and have stepped back to get that panoramic view you need to see the field.
Like you, I don't know where/when this was adopted, but I prefer it. I strongly suspect that the majority of NUS working NCAA has seen the value, not that this is a single person's idea or agenda.