Illegal Pitch

[Mountaineer]

OK, I was gonna hijack another thread but decided against it . . .

When do you call/signal IP? If a pitcher does something that makes her illegal (not wiping off when they go to the mouth, stepping on the pitching plate with both hands on the ball, non-pivot foot outside of the 24" rubber, etc.), when do you call that? We have had a perpetual (never ending for any fellow West Virginian's) arguement in our local board about this.

Some say you don't call it until release, others say immediately, and still some say when she separates her hands. What say ye?

I am on the side of the separation of hands. It's at that point she cannot go back as the rules state that the pictch "begins when the hands are separated after they have been brought together". If I call it at the point of the infraction, she could easily step back off of the pitcher's plate, releasing any infraction she has committed. If I call it at the point of separation, I might get lucky and she'll stop her motion! If there's an IP, personally, I don't want the batter hitting the ball. I'd rather just deal with the IP rather than choices for the offense.

Your turn . . .

[Dakota]

Call it at the point of irrevocable infraction. For a foreign substance on the ball, that is immediately. For mechanics violations, not until she no longer has the option of legally starting over. That is what I do, anyway.

[CecilOne]

The rule books list some infractions (maybe differently) as immediate DB, some as delayed. I generally agree with the point of no return concept, but once the pitch motion has started, it is as soon as I recognize it. For "non-pitch" infractions, right away is best.