I'm not going to continue with this discussion. It's obvious my arguments have caused hard feelings. I rule on this situation separately because the casebook comment addresses it separately.
However, certain specifics should be borne in mind:
(a) Straddling the pitcher's rubber without the ball is to be interpreted as intent to deceive and ruled a balk.
The
intent to deceive is identical whether the ball is live or dead. That's it in a nutshell.
Feel free to call what you believe is right. I know I will.
[Edited by Jim Porter on Aug 6th, 2002 at 03:10 PM]