Illegal pitch or no pitch.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

One thing I have learned to do it wait until the pitcher finishes their delivery before I come up and call anything. Last season I was the base umpire in a situation where the plate umpire called a no pitch (ball from another field came onto our field). The pitcher was in the middle of her motion and tried stopping. Unfortunately she tried stopping her motion midway through and did something to her arm. She ended up missing a few weeks of the season with an arm injury.

And that is the fault of her coaches, not the umpire doing his/her job.

EVEN WHEN I WAS PLAYING YOUTH BASEBALL IN THE LATE 50's, the pitcher was told to NEVER stop once you start. The pitchers were told to ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL complete the motion. The coaches would even screw around with them in practice to see if they would stop. If they did, everyone got a good laugh while they did a couple laps around the field.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

And that is the fault of her coaches, not the umpire doing his/her job.

EVEN WHEN I WAS PLAYING YOUTH BASEBALL IN THE LATE 50's, the pitcher was told to NEVER stop once you start. The pitchers were told to ALWAYS, WITHOUT FAIL complete the motion. The coaches would even screw around with them in practice to see if they would stop. If they did, everyone got a good laugh while they did a couple laps around the field.

I agree. It's too bad the pitcher hurt herself, but that's not the umpire's fault. The rule calls for an immediate "No Pitch" call the moment the runner leaves the base early.

We are not required to hesitate and let the pitcher deliver the pitch, and then sort things out afterward. Heck, by allowing the pitch, you could open the door to other preventable injuries, such as a HBP, a batted ball off the batter's leg, etc. etc.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Manny A

I agree. It's too bad the pitcher hurt herself, but that's not the umpire's fault. The rule calls for an immediate "No Pitch" call the moment the runner leaves the base early.

We are not required to hesitate and let the pitcher deliver the pitch, and then sort things out afterward. Heck, by allowing the pitch, you could open the door to other preventable injuries, such as a HBP, a batted ball off the batter's leg, etc. etc.

I would think it quite rare that the time it takes for a pitcher to complete a delivery (quite short once started), would actually be long enough for the umpire to see the violation, make the call, the pitcher hear it and have time to think, "hell, I better stop my motion".

You are right, there is no requirement for you to hesitate. However, there is no requirement that you blurt this out in .xx seconds to earn a bonus for quick calls. So what if the pitch goes? No matter what happens, it is as you pointed out, a "no pitch", therefore whatever subsequent action there was is simply negated and we reset and move on from that point.

No big deal. There are way too many umpires running around the field, screaming and waving their arms acting as if play doesn't come to an immediate halt, the field will explode.

Relax. Make your calls. You don't get paid extra for being quick.