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Steve,
In our local rules clinic we were taught that a pitcher stepping on the pitcher's plate with her hands together had committed an illegal pitch. If you follow the logic of rule 6.1, it is certainly a logical asumption if she were to continue the process because she would have to separate her hands to take or simulate taking the signal and then bring them back together to start the pitch. Or another way to think about it is that when she separates her hands, she began a pitch without taking a signal. Either way it's illegal.
But you brought up an interesting scenario I hadn't heard or considered- stepping on the pitcher's plate with her hands together and then stepping back off. That would nullify what we were taught in the clinic, that it's an automatic illegal pitch. After thinking about what you've posed, I have searched through the rules and cannot find anything to support the automatic illegal pitch logic. Do others teach that stepping on the plate with hands together is an automatic illegal pitch? Have you heard that before?
Glenn
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