Pitch behind the back

[Skahtboi]

Originally posted by WestMichBlue
"past the straight line of the body."

I've always felt this is the most ambiguous statement in the entire rules book. I don't think that any umpire has a clue what the "straight line of the body" is; I suspect most of us just go right past this sentence.

If the pitcher takes her position on the pitcher's plate with her shoulders in line with first and third, the "straight line of the body" would be that imaginary plane that the front of her body would create. If one is pitching behind their back, it would seem unlikely that the release and follow through would allow her to go forward through this plane, hence a violation of the rule.

[Dukat]

I have seen this girl in action in both High School (Her team took out my daughters team 2 years ago for the state championship) and college and she uses it as her changeup. It freezes the batters and is quite impressive looking. They did not allow it when she played High School but in college I have seen her use it 3 or 4 times a game in multiple games and is never called illegal. I think whenever she pitches they tell the umps beforehand so they will be ready for it.

[Dakota]

Caveat: I have not seen this pitch, so I am going only by the written description here.

Whoever in the NCAA ruled this pitch legal is a weenie.

It is clearly illegal.

Just because the rule book does not explicitly say "no behind the back pitches" doesn't mean it is not illegal. It is. JMO.

[CecilOne]

As I think we all know, legal is not the same as "not called". We have frequently determined that the majority of illegal pitches are not called, let alone those not specifically defined in the books. Pretty much the same thing for interpretations by local or tournament interpreters and UIC.

[WestMichBlue]

Skahboi: If the pitcher takes her position on the pitcher's plate with her shoulders in line with first and third, the "straight line of the body" would be that imaginary plane that the front of her body would create. If one is pitching behind their back, it would seem unlikely that the release and follow through would allow her to go forward through this plane, hence a violation of the rule.

Starting position must be with shoulders in line with 1st/3rd. But if you are suggesting that the pitcher must finish that way; that the release of the ball and the follow through of the arm will go "through" that plane between 1st/3d, than you've just made most female pitchers illegal. With a typical female pitcher the wrist snap precedes the hip closing. Typically a male pitcher will close his hips before the wrist snap. Your plane with the female may be pointing at SS or even 2B. Thus the release and follow through may be parallel to the "plane."

No offense intended, Scott, but that doesn't work, and further proves my original point that most of us (myself included) "don't have a clue what the straight line of the body is."

BTW - just to muddy the waters a bit. The "straight line of the body" has been in the ASA book for nearly 60 years. The NFHS book is obviously newer. NFHS changed one word - "straight" to "vertical." They probably thought that making it known to be a vertical line would make it easier to understand. Hah! That didn't work either!

Personally I believe it is an outdated rule that is no longer valid and violations should not be called. I think the original rules makers wanted pitchers to be square to the plate (hips/shoulders in line with 1st/3rd as Scott noted above) when they released the ball. They did not want the pitcher to stride out and pitch in the full open position (belt buckle towards 3B). They said, "at no time in the forward swing shall the arm cross the front of the body." Also at that time a "snap or jerky release of the ball at the hip" was prohibited.

A few years later those were dropped and the "straight line" was introduced. Required now was a "follow through of the hand and wrist past the straight line of the body before the ball is released." So they wanted that hand out in front of the body before releasing the ball.

Since 1970 the rule has been as it is today: the release of the ball and the follow through of the hand and the wrist must be forward past the straight line of the body. Taken out of it's historical context, the rule no longer describes its true intent and is very ambiguous. Not only has the rule evolved, but also pitching has evolved significantly from the 1930's and any pitcher that snaps her wrist prior to closing the hips would be illegal under the original intent of this rule. Well, you can't call IP for every pitch on every pitcher, so this rule is no longer valid and should be junked.

And now you know theeeeeeee rest of the story!

WMB