MLB Pitching Regulations

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by tip184

1) Slits, scuff marks, "warped" appearance, torn seams, too slippery all qualify as reasons to throw a baseball out.

2) Certainly. The rules allow it.

3) The rulebook.

Re # 2.

The pitcher can request a different ball, but he cannot get back one that has been discarded by the umpire.

[Klokard]

JR, The reason a pitched ball in the dirt gets tossed is due to physics. If there is even a small size smudge of mud imbedded in the seams, it throws off the balance of the ball. This is no big deal to the inexperienced pitcher, but to a pitcher who knows how to take advantage of it, it can make for some exciting movement in the ball.

[JR12]

I guess I can see that, or hard dirt might cause a scuff, just saying you didn't see so many balls discarded years ago.

[Kevin Finnerty]

When I teach pitching, I teach pitchers how to hold the ball to take the best advantage of a cut, a scuff or some mud packed in a seam, if the umpire doesn't discard it. If the ball isn't discarded, then a pitcher with savvy should know how to use it. And at the developmental level, we all know that the ball is not discarded often enough.

As an umpire, I'll let a minor scuff stay in, but not a cut or a torn seam. A cut or a fray will make the ball do more tricks than a scuff. I also check any ball that hits anything, except soft dirt. So I guess that's my H.S./J.C. standard.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Originally Posted by JR12

I guess I can see that, or hard dirt might cause a scuff, just saying you didn't see so many balls discarded years ago.

Can't remember when they first brought this in , but it has the composition akin to kitty litter. Cuts the baseball up pretty good. Seems to me Dodger stadium had this first, by the frequency of balls they threw out years ago...

[kylejt]

It's a function of how many baseballs you have available to you, isn't it?

[TussAgee11]

Originally Posted by kylejt

It's a function of how many baseballs you have available to you, isn't it?

It sure is, but from what I have seen in the last soon to be 5 years of umpiring is that we, as a whole, do not throw the ball out enough at the amateur level.

A lot of this has to do with whiney coaches. I throw the ball out more than the majority of my partners have, and often times coaches are even puzzled by it. Even at a Sr. Babe level, coaches are perplexed as to why a ball is unfit.

At the Legion level (akin to JV or V), the coaches are baseball people, and complain if you give their pitcher a bad ball, or the other pitcher a good ball. It is really incredible the amount of complaining I've had over this issue. I'm sure if I kept every ball in my bag and never inspected them, it wouldn't be an issue. But because I take 2 seconds when I get a ball back to give it a glance and toss a ball into the home dugout every 2 or 3 innings (depending on the level), it is an issue to them.

Lastly, does anyone else hate hearing at the plate meeting "Here are 6 balls and my pitcher has one too." Every single game that first warm-up that comes in, I flip him a ball and take the one that I haven't seen.

Am I making to big of a deal about this? When I do this, I try my damnest not to be OOO, but when nobody else in our association does it, it makes me look like an OOO I guess.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

Lastly, does anyone else hate hearing at the plate meeting "Here are 6 balls and my pitcher has one too." Every single game that first warm-up that comes in, I flip him a ball and take the one that I haven't seen.

I do the same thing. I don't know what's been done to that ball. I look at the ball, and if it's a good one, I get it back to the pitcher at the first ball replacement opportunity. But we start with a pearl.

[Blue37]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

Lastly, does anyone else hate hearing at the plate meeting "Here are 6 balls and my pitcher has one too." Every single game that first warm-up that comes in, I flip him a ball and take the one that I haven't seen.

Around here, we usually get three at the meeting and each pitcher has one. The main problem we have is the visiting pitcher will, for the bottom of the first, either not bring out a ball at all or bring out one that has obviously been used in a previous game. The visiting coaches try to get the new ball in their equipment bag so they can bring it out for their next home game.

I have started getting that ball before the game begins if the pitcher has finished his warm-ups.