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Originally Posted by Manny A
I find this whole ball rotation discussion fascinating. I wonder what's the history behind it?
If a pitcher doesn't like the "feel" of the hole in front of the pitcher's plate, and asks for Time to have it fixed, aren't you going to take the time to help her out, perhaps even bringing the grounds crew in to do some repair work? But if that pitcher throws 7-8 balls in a row out of the strikezone, and she wants another ball, why the heck does ASA and FED tell me I can't give it to her?
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I'm sure I'll be accused of not actually being at the table in the 1930s when the book was first written, but common sense says that it was implemented to prevent the pitcher from constantly asking for a new ball for the purpose of delaying the game. It also ensured that teams weren't throwing in "dead" balls while keeping the more juiced ones in the dugout. The issue with getting the new ball in in the bottom half of the second is just to make sure a new ball doesn't first enter the game in the 7th inning.
Abiding by strict ball rotation is ridiculous. Those who tend to do it don't properly interpret the rule, as is evident by others' posts. There is no remedy for not abiding by it. It isn't something that could be protested. Even if someone was dumb enough to protest it and someone else even dumber to uphold the protest, there is no remedy. What are you going to do, go back to the point of the protest and resume play from there with....hmmm....which ball do we use now....?