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Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve
Well, I think you are being facetious, my friend, but, for those that may not grasp the concepts (and in honor of us both NOT being at the National UIC Clinic for the first time!!):  |
Yes, mixed emotions about that. Dearly missed the camaraderie of my friends and fellow umpires. OTOH, not a fan of moving it to a facility that knowingly could not handle the event. People can say what they want about the Biltmore, but IMO that location was perfect.
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There are two categories in the pitching rule; 1) those items that must happen to be legal, and 2) those items that if they happen are illegal. Both must be taken literally to be cited.
Category 1 examples: Must step on the PP fully within the 24" width with both feet and hands separated, must take or simulate signal after stepping on and before bringing hands together, must actually bring hands together in order to legally separate to begin a pitch,
Category 2 examples: May not leap, may not separate hands without immediately and continuously pitching, may not release the ball with the wrist further from the body than the elbow, may not make two revolutions on the windmill, may not have hands together more than 10 seconds (5 in NCAA), may not make another revolution after releasing the ball (chinese changeup).
NOT ILLEGAL examples often cited, but no rule that actually or specifically makes it illegal: Taking a signal off the PP, not "presenting" the ball, the hand passing the hip twice, the hands touched but the ball wasn't "inside the glove", not wiping the hand after using the rosin bag or touching the dirt (is illegal to not wipe in NCAA only!!), bringing the pitching hand to the mouth while on the "mound", using a slingshot release after using a windmill (changing the motion), grunting on release.
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And that is part of my problem. TOO many things are listed as illegal or not permissible that should be painfully obvious as the action does not specifically meet the requirements to be a legal pitch. I would rather see ALL rule sets concentrate on the specifics of what constitutes a legal action with the default of illegal for any act/actions that do not meet the specs of the legal pitch.
It is my belief that many rules are specifically dummied down to accommodate the ignorant and/or the snake-oil salesman type of participant.
Over compensation for the dummies (and I use that term affectionately) can really screw up a rule. For years, the ASA allowed for the drop third strike being in effect when there were less than two outs or with two outs and a runner on 1B. The rule did not address a scenario with two outs and no runner on 1B. So, if you followed the rule as it was written, the D3K was not in effect with two outs and 1B unoccupied. We all knew the correct ruling, but there was nothing to support it. The rule should have always been "Any time with two outs".
Another over compensation is on the IF. The rule states the IF is in effect with 1st & 2nd base or 1st, 2nd & 3rd base occupied at the time of the pitch. Why is the second half of that quantifier even included? Who gives a damn about 3rd base, it is irrelevant to the IF. However, it is probably there because some fool who was pretending to be an umpire bought into a sly coach's argument that the rule book did not specify that 3rd base could be unoccupied, so the IF was not in effect when the bases were juiced.