[greymule]

I like it better when the hand up means time out and the pitcher risks a quick pitch if she delivers the ball. Even slow pitch used to be that way, but today we see umps (and I've done it, too) with the hand up and then the go signal for every pitch, as if it's mandatory or something.

In my experience, many SP batters get in the box and say, "Time, please, until I say I'm ready." So I put my hand up. They dig a little dirt, get comfortable, raise the bat, look out to the pitcher, and then say, "OK." Then I take my hand down. The batters are usually polite about it and are not trying to delay the game. Of course, in SP the ball is dead anyway, so we don't have to worry about runners. But in FP, I can see where some tough calls could arise.

Perhaps this is an issue today because pitchers (both SP and FP) simply don't know to give the batter a little time to get set.