Illegal pitch? Ball awarded?

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by David Emerling

I was just wondering if there was a regional propensity to not invoke a certain rule.

Sorry, I didn't answer your question.

Around here, yes. The other night I had a pitcher step off with the wrong foot. He was in the windup and there were no runners. He stepped off because the batter wasn't in the box yet. The count remained 0-0.

[charliej47]

Usually if the batter is not in the box, the pitcher cannot pitch unless told to do so. As such, stepping off or dropping his hands or some other action would not be a cause for a penalty.

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by charliej47

Usually if the batter is not in the box, the pitcher cannot pitch unless told to do so. As such, stepping off or dropping his hands or some other action would not be a cause for a penalty.

By (FED only) rule this is an illegal pitch and a ball.