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There is another good thread on 5/19/03 on this issue.
I understand there is no "gaining an advantage" clause in the rules. However, the rules were drafted to prohibit pitchers from starting closer to the plate, with the most prominent evil being a replant and then a leap from the newly established point.
If a pitcher pushes off from the pitcher's plate with a pivot, and her back foot catches a little air because she is driving hard, it does not necessarily constitute a leap, depending on where her non-pivot foot is and her release. If she jumps up instead of out, and catches a lot of air, she will be throwing a poor pitch anyway, based on the simple physics of the West Coast pitching style.
One of the better points I saw in this thread relates to the fact that if you focus on technical violations, very few good pitchers would pass muster and you would be making illegal pitch calls all day. Thus, review the intent of the rule, which is certainly an umpire's duty (even when there is no "unfair advantage" clause), and judge accordingly.
I agree that rewriting the rules is probably a better solution than the endless debating. I saw a draft rule on some website that included langauage which provided that "it shall not be illegal if the pivot foot merely loses contact with the ground" and then qualified the circumstances. I wish I had bookmarked it, because I cannot remember which organization it was.
This is not about why the chicken crossed the road as much as it is about whether they used the crosswalk to do so.
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