Please help settle an arguement in our local association. LH pitcher in stretch w/ R1.

F1 steps at about a 40 degree angle towards first and throws to F3 for a pick-off attempt. F1s body momentum carries him towards the 1st Base foul line. PO is successful.

Q: Is this legal, if so what grounds?

I was a left-handed pitcher in TX in HS and this was a "technique" taught that was successful. In 4 years of varsity AAA ball, I was never balked for this move. I believe that there was an interpretation that said this was legal as long as F1 did cross the 45 degee angle. I know this interpretation is not in the FED rule or case book nor is it in the OBR. We have a number of Wendelstedt graduates who agree with me.

I would think that it is legal. There is no rule about stepping with in a 45 degree line. That is just a myth. And his momentum carried him towards the first base line. But that is after he has released the ball. After he does not have the ball he can move which ever way he wants.

45 degrees is just a generally accepted angle. If 40 degrees "toward first" then this is inside the 45 degree line. 40 or 45, splittin hairs here, umpire judgement, did he step towards first before making the throw? If so pickoff is legal.

45 degrees
 

I believe the rule book states that the step must be more toward first than to home. (Again, I do not have the FED book in front of me.) If that is the case, it necessitates a 45 degree rule of thumb. Simple geometry indicates that 44 degrees is closer to zero degrees (first) than 90 (home), and 46 degrees is closer to 90 than zero....

Of course everyone can understand it when I put it that way right? lol

What the rulebooks say is that the pitcher must step towards the base before throwing. The professional interpretation is that the pitcher must step more towards 1B than the plate, and that is considered to be within the 45 degree angle between the base and the halfway point between the base and the plate.

6.2.4B

clinics have taught us the distance and direction idea. Does pitcher show distance from point where he lifted foot and does his foot land in a direction in which he throws. No 45 degree consideration.

From Jim Evans' Baseball Rules Annotated, comments on 8.04(c):

Customs and Usage: For practical enforcement purposes, stepping directly means stepping within 45 degrees
of a direct, straight line to the base. In other words, the pitcher is NOT stepping MORE toward a different base
than the one to which he is throwing.

thanks.

The jim evans interpretation was what I remembered. Of course the 45 degree line of thinking makes sense, less than 45 degrees is "towards" 1st, more than 45 degrees is towards home.

thank again.