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Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
Okay, I thought y'all be smart enough to pick up and talk about my point, but apparently I need to explain it. 
My point is when does the pitcher stop becoming a fielder and return to the status of a pitcher?
Based on what I am reading in the replies, the pitcher is always a pitcher and never a fielder. Do you enforce the LBR immediately if a pitcher catches a ball in flight in the circle? If so, you have removed a runner's right to tag up and advance on a caught fly ball. Of if running on the pitch and has reached the next base, the ability to attempt to return to the base they need to tag to avoid being put out.
This was discussed two years ago at the UIC Clinic with Walt Sparks and, at least in my group, the consensus seemed to be that the LBR isn't in effect until, in the judgment of the umpire, the effects of the ball being put into play are completed.
Think about it from a runner's point of view. A throw from the outfield is cut off by SOMEONE in the middle of the infield. Do you really expect the runners and coaches to be able to immediately identify this player as the one who pitched the ball and adjust their running assignments accordingly?
As previously stated, I don't believe this was the purpose of the LBR. Whether I like the rule or not is irrelevant to the discussion. |
If ASA actually wants that to be the official interpretation (in red), they should be a lot more clear about when the pitcher stops being a fielder. Is she still a fielder if she is exhibiting defensive indifference to a runner, as apparently was the case in the OP? Here is what the RS says:
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34. LOOK-BACK RULE (Fast Pitch) (Rule 8 Section 7 T).
E. A pitcher fielding a ball in the circle is an infielder and runners can leave their base. If runners leave their base, the same rule applies while the pitcher holds the ball in the circle: once the runner stops, they must decide which way to continue or be called out.
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In the OP, I can see giving the pitcher and the runners time for the pitcher to transition from fielder to pitcher. That is the HTBT part of the OP. But, that is not the same thing as waiting until "the effects of the ball being put into play are completed." If that were the case, then R1 could just stand off 3B while F1 has the ball in the circle while the BR continues on to 2B.