sign off of rubber FED

[smoump]

6-1-1 pitcher "shall take his sign from the catcher with his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher's plate. The pitching regulations BEGIN when he intentionally contacts the pitcher's plate".

Penalty illegal pitch .....

Now, if regs don't begin till he addresses the rubber, then how can I balk a pitcher for taking signs off the rubber?

[LMan]

Not an exact answer to your question, but there are several sorts of 'regs' on the pitcher that don't require him to be on the rubber: making a pitching move while not touching the rubber, being inside 5 feet of the rubber without the ball, etc. Being on the rubber is not an absolute prerequisite for restrictions on the pitcher.

[mcrowder]

You don't balk him for taking signs off the rubber. You balk him for NOT taking signs from ON the rubber. Once he toes the rubber, THEN he must take signs. If he doesn't, it's a balk. The idea here is to prevent quick-pitching.

[smoump]

As I study 6-2-1 thru 5 I see nothing about awarding a balk for this action. I have always dealt with it by killing it when I realize that is what he is doing, then I tell him to stop. This seems to be a preventive measure that works, pitcher is usually inexperienced or absent-minded.

My partner had a coach last night that insisted that it was a balk. He read 6-1-1 to him. My problem is with the phrase "He shall". If it were a balk wouldn't it be addressed in 6-2?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by smoump

As I study 6-2-1 thru 5 I see nothing about awarding a balk for this action. I have always dealt with it by killing it when I realize that is what he is doing, then I tell him to stop. This seems to be a preventive measure that works, pitcher is usually inexperienced or absent-minded.

My partner had a coach last night that insisted that it was a balk. He read 6-1-1 to him. My problem is with the phrase "He shall". If it were a balk wouldn't it be addressed in 6-2?

Not necessarily. This is the NFHS we're talking about.

It's a balk/illegal pitch as described earlier. In OBR, it's a "don't do that" rule with the penalties being warning/ejection.

[smoump]

Could you guys include in your responses how you deal with this in a FED game?

[C'monBlue]

You, as the plate umpire, cannot assume that the pitcher is taking signs just because he is looking at the catcher. Unless you SEE the sign, which is impossible because the catcher is in front of you, don't call a balk--unless, of course, there is a quick pitch.

[smoump]

I agree as a plate guy, but as a base umpire, I can clearly see it.

[C'monBlue]

As the BU, you're watching the pitcher's body. I would make a point of NOT watching the signs. There is absolutely nothing good that can come from you calling a balk in this situation. Find ways to avoid it.

[Rich]

Preventive actions by the umpires can stop this from happening. Find a reason to go to the mound and say a quick word to the pitcher. Send the catcher out to talk to the pitcher.

Don't start looking for strange balks.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

You don't balk him for taking signs off the rubber. You balk him for NOT taking signs from ON the rubber. Once he toes the rubber, THEN he must take signs. If he doesn't, it's a balk. The idea here is to prevent quick-pitching.

In FED, at least, it's also to "protect" the runner from thinking that F1 is on the rubber.

I agree with your parsing of the the phrase that's used. But, I'm reasonably certain that FED means for this action (acting like he's on the rubber by taking signs) to be a balk -- it was on the Part 1 test a few years ago.

[JRutledge]

Tell the catcher to tell the pitcher to take the signs while on the rubber or tell the pitcher yourself to take signs on the rubber. Most of the time this is not an issue and I can only think of one time I had to address this.

Peace