Quote:
Originally Posted by rbmartin
Fed game yesterday. I am HP. Pitcher is struggling to throw strikes. Starts taking FOREVER to pitch the ball. After saying a couple times, "hey guys, lets speed things up a bit" pitcher is still slow. I start visually counting (like a basketball ref) and the pitcher takes the hint and starts working faster.
My question is, if I had needed to issue a 1 ball penalty for taking more than 20 seconds to deliver the ball, what is the proper procedure to do this? Do you call time (kinda defeats the purpose of trying to speed up the game)? Do you let the pitcher remain on the rubber? Exactly how do I do this should I ever have cause to do it?
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Call time, get your brush out and while cleaning the plate tell the catcher he needs to visit his pitcher and tell him to speed up delivery between pitches, significantly. I have never seen this rule applied, by the way, or done it myself, as preventive umpiring is better. Do it as soon as you notice, first inning.
If you call a ball you can bet money the offended manager will soon be complaining that opposing batters are stepping out of the box and a ball should be called.