Pitcher taking signals.

[cbfoulds]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

There is no requirement that signs be actually given, just the manner in which they must be given..."shall be from the rubber." That naturally means "not from any other location."


I have never allowed pitchers to get their signs off the rubber and then quickly step on and pitch, and this is the only reason for taking the signs off the rubber.

You may have aced Logic, but you are doing poorly in Semantics.

1st snippet:
"shall be from the rubber"... Quote marks usually indicate a quote. I hope we can agree that what you "quoted" is not, in fact, a quote of any Rule [at least none relevent to this thread]. What the Rule ACTUALLY says [Fed: 6-1-1] "[the pitcher] shall take his sign from the catcher with his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate. " [OBR: 8.01] "Pitchers shall take signs from the catcher while standing on the rubber."

NEITHER of those versions of the Rule says or logically implies that F1:
# Needs to take any "sign" at all...
# May ONLY take signs from the catcher...
# May ONLY take signs from the rubber....

The usual and customary interpretation has been, time out of mind, that TO PREVENT A QUICK PITCH, F1 must take, or simulate taking, a sign from F2 after coming into contact with the pitching rubber [or "plate"] and before pitching. To be clear:
*No actual sign need be given...
*F1 may take signs from F2, his coach, his daddy or g/f in the stands, or The Great Hairy Thunderer... and
* he can take those signs, if any, anywhere he damn pleases [one caveat - wait for it], as long as he takes or simulates taking a sign from F2 after contact w/ the rubber and before pitching.

The caveat is what Garth [and, I think I remember, Bob] is/are talking about: IN FED, straddling the rubber and looking in for a sign MAY be interpreted as motions associated with the pitch - a balk if performed/ simulated while not in contact with the rubber.

2d snippet:

"quickly step on and pitch, ... this is the only reason for taking the signs off the rubber." Not so, and this is demonstrated in the OP, where "signs" are taken OFF the rubber, then F1 steps on and takes [or appears to take] ANOTHER sign, in compliance with the Rule. There are MANY reasons why this is done, far too many to list; but one should suffice:

Scratching your nose on the rubber is a balk in FED ball [motion associated with pitch]: F1 gets balked for this ONE TIME, and if he's got a coach that insists on the catcher giving 311 "signs" before each pitch, he'll wait until the end of the meaningless chatter before he climbs into the position of peril.