Joe West's Illegal Pitch call in the Cards/Pirates game

[Gee]

You can't equate MLB rules with the OBR or any other baseball rule book. I'm not surprised at the call as the infraction would have an adverse effect on the batter. Just think what would happen if the pitcher was allowed to start and stop at will, between the time he is committed to the pitch and the time the ball is released. That's one reason they stopped the triple, quadruple pump, among other things that held a batter at bay.

Under OBR I couldn't and therefore wouldn't call it a ball but would give one warning and then eject as it is obviously done to distract the batter. G