Batter must verbally call time?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by LRZ

I'm firmly in the "keep the ball alive" school. Just because a batter puts his hand up as he settles into the box, I'm not going to call time. For safety, I will, however, stop a pitcher, if the batter is not set.

Same on a slide, if the kid doesn't really need to dust off: "You don't need it, stay on the bag and climb the ladder."

I agree, but that doesn't answer the OP's question.

[umpjim]

When the batter enters the box with his hand up I usually don't give the pitcher a stop sign unless we have a pitcher who appears to ignore the batter not being ready. Once the batter is established in the box and then puts his hand up I consider that a request for time and will grant it if appropriate or tell him no. It's usually not appropriate if F1 has come set or started his windup. Time would be granted if something had affected the batter or a set pitcher held too long.