[greymule]

So, where did this "gaining an advantage" phrase come from? Same place "tie goes to the runner" originated?

Same place "the hands are part of the bat" originated.

There are any number of baseball and softball phrases spouted so commonly that people assume they're in the rule books, the same way they assume that the terms "freedom of expression" and "separation of church and state" are in the U.S. Constitution.

"One plus one," "one from the infield, two from the outfield," "the fielder has to hold the ball for three seconds" are other common examples.

"Gaining an advantage," which exists nowhere in any rule book, undoubtedly derives from rec ball, in which umpires are often faced with the choice of letting some violations slide or in effect ruining their and everyone else's evening. If both 10-year-old pitchers are technically illegal as they lob pitches in the general direction of the plate, you simply can't persist in calling their motion (or the strike zone) strictly by the book. But you can inform them and their coaches of the proper motion and recommend that they practice it.

But once I was put in a bad situation in an official state girls' softball tournament in New Jersey. Most of the teams were well coached, but my first game involved two city teams that had somehow qualified and yet were miles below the better teams in ability and knowledge. Both pitchers were illegal six ways from Sunday. The coaches were cooperative, listened to my explanations, and tried to get the pitchers to make corrections, but there were just too many problems. Both coaches asked if we could just forget about the pitching rules for that first game and work on the mechanics between games.

I agreed to that, wanting to avoid chaos and knowing that both teams were going to be blown out of the tournament by noon. (Both teams were mercy-ruled by the third inning in the rest of their games, and the opposing coaches didn't mention the IPs.) College, especially at the levels on TV, is of course a different story. You have to enforce the rules, even if it means calling a dozen IPs in an inning.