pitcher goes to his mouth without wiping it off

[coachnatte]

We just played a high school district tournament game and I have a question. We were in the seventh inning trailing the home team 8-6. We had 2 outs and runners in first and third. The HPU had in an earlier inning warned the opposing team's pitcher that he could not go to his mouth on the mound-( he was within 5 ft of the rubber)without wiping his hand off before he pitched. With our runners on base in this situation the HPU again gave him a warning that since he did it again he should cease from this once again. I was coaching at third base and said to the HPU that this was a balk. He told me it was not a balk. We have a no protest rule in Michigan during tournament play as "all disputes must be settled on the field". Should I have gone to the rule book in this situation? I thought this was an automatic balk- no brainer.My guy at the plate struck out and of course we lost.Should'nt have been 8-7 with a man on second before my guy struck out?

[brumey1107]

Sorry Coach,

I'm not as versed in Fed rules, but OBR states in this case the penalty would be a ball.

8.02
The pitcher shall not_ (a) (1) Bring his pitching hand in contact with his mouth or lips while in the 18 foot circle surrounding the pitching rubber. EXCEPTION: Provided it is agreed to by both managers, the umpire prior to the start of a game played in cold weather, may permit the pitcher to blow on his hand. PENALTY: For violation of this part of this rule the umpires shall immediately call a ball. However, if the pitch is made and a batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a hit batsman or otherwise, and no other runner is put out before advancing at least one base, the play shall proceed without reference to the violation.

So your player would have struck out with an additional ball in the count, unless he had a count of 3 balls prior to going to his mouth.

[Jim Porter]

I'd like to add that in professional baseball it is sort of an unwritten rule to look the other way when a pitcher goes to his mouth on the mound, as long as the pitcher wipes off his hand first. They're even instructed at Evans' school to shout out a reminder to the pitcher to wipe off his hand if he doesn't do it right away. Umpires, of course, prefer that the pitcher step onto the grass, go to his mouth, and then wipe it off before handling the ball, and they ask the players to do that. Most often, the players are happy to comply.

Only the direct application of saliva to the ball should be penalized, and that can occur either on or off the mound.

Forehead sweat applied to the ball, however, seems to be allowed from what I've seen in MLB. I've seen more than one pitcher in MLB apply forehead sweat before rubbing up the ball.

Of course, the orginal question dealt with high school ball, and unless the original poster is from Massachusetts or Rhode Island, all of that was entirely irrelevant.

[sunfudblu]

In FED the penalty for going to the mouth without wiping off the hand is an immediate dead ball. The umpire may eject the pitcher. If the BALL IS PITCHED AND THEN DETECTED it is an illegal pitch and then you would have a balk (with runners on base). He does not have to be outside radius of the mound to go to his mouth. The blowing on the hand thing is OK.......especially in Illinois. It's STILL cold here even in June!!

IMO he should have ejected the pitcher especially if he had already warned him once.

[David B]

Originally posted by sunfudblu

IMO he should have ejected the pitcher especially if he had already warned him once.

That's the correct rule for FED;however, it does say he "may" eject him. So I guess it is up to the umpire. But, how many games has this guy pitched in and has not learned his lesson.

Or have umps just been ignoring it? That's the problem with umpires letting things go and then along comes one of the umpire who has guts to make the call.

However, at least he warned him. Twice. He was not required to do that so if the kid gets ejected that's his fault.

Thanks
David.

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by David B
That's the problem with umpires letting things go and then along comes one of the umpire who has guts to make the call.

Some calls don't take guts. Some calls require a total lack of game management skills, a complete and utter failure to recognize common sense and fair play, a total misunderstanding of custom and tradition, a highly over-officious manner, and an utter lack of feeling for game flow.

For example, let's look for a moment at the 20 second rule in the OBR. Suppose I was enforcing that rule religiously with a stopwatch. Would you say, "Gosh, what guts that guy has," or would you think, "What an oaf, he has no feel for the game at all." If you picked answer A, I feel terrible for you.